Research by scientists from Australia indicates that people born in the cold season have a higher risk of schizophrenia due to vitamin D deficiency in childhood.
Scientists have analyzed data on 2.5 thousand people and found that those who have faced with insufficient vitamin D at an early age are more commonly diagnosed with schizophrenia. An important association is the fact that vitamin D deficiency is most observed in winter.
A detailed study of the schizophrenics questionnaires found that most of them were born in the cold season, with the spring period in the second place. Scientists emphasize that although vitamin D deficiency affects the risk of mental illness, genetics also plays a significant role.
It is noted that if both parents have schizophrenia, the risk of a child's disease is 45 percent. In the case where one parent suffers from this disease, the risk is reduced to 13 percent. The presence of this disease in the grandparents increases the risk of up to 5 percent, with siblings or sisters - up to 12 percent.