Schizophrenia and lead in the womb - link

Main Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Also Included In: Schizophrenia
Article Date: 15 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT


American scientists say that there is a link between schizophrenia in adulthood and exposure to lead in the womb.

They studied blood samples of pregnant women in the 1960s (lead was commonly used in vehicle fuel) and found that people whose mothers were exposed to high levels of lead in the atmosphere (exhaust fumes) were more than twice as likely to develop schizophrenia later in life.

Dr. Ezra Susser (Columbia University, New York, USA) lead the research team. He presented his and his team's findings to the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington State.

This is the first time an environmental toxin has been linked to later risk of schizophrenia.

'It's a preliminary finding, but an intriguing one. We think that people will now look at a variety of environmental toxins which can disrupt brain development, and see whether they are also related to the risk of schizophrenia.' Dr. Susser told the BBC.

When a baby's brain is developing during a crucial period (called synaptogenesis), when the brain cells make many connections to one another, lead may interfere with the growth of nerve cells.

It seems that the cells autodestruct when they should not.

Dr. Susser thinks the same thing is going on (same mechanism) as what gives rise to foetal alcohol syndrome (foetal = UK spelling. fetal = USA spelling).

In foetal alcohol syndrome, the baby's brain is damaged prenatally if the mother drinks lots of alcohol.

Dr. Susser said that it is necessary to find other blood samples of pregnant mothers in the 1960s to confirm his findings.

If it is confirmed, it would have huge implications for the study of schizophrenia, a condition whose origins have baffled researchers for decades.

Schizophrenia is the most chronic and disabling of the major mental illnesses. It is a highly complex condition, and scientists are not even sure if it is one disorder, or a range of disorders, with different causes.

If lead does disturb early brain development, then scientists will be able to focus on other factors which may do the same thing.

• Additional
• References
• Citations