People suffering from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are told there is no cure as the condition is inherited – but exciting news this week suggests that one third of all cases are caused by the environment, not genes, and so could be reversed.
Researchers from King’s College London made the discovery when they examined 22 pairs of identical twins. Although the twins are genetically identical, only one of each pair had schizophrenia or bipolar. This suggests that the environment was in some way responsible for the problem, and the researchers reckon that 30 per cent of all cases are caused this way.
Lead researcher Dr Jonathan Mill says that diseases caused by epigenetics (factors beyond the gene, such as environment) are potentially are reversible – so giving hope for the first time to sufferers.
(Source: Human Molecular Genetics, 2011; doi: 10.1093/hmg/ddr416).
