Children Whose Parents Were in Utero During Holocaust May Develop More Severe Schizophrenia

A new study shows that children of Holocaust survivors do not face a greater risk of developing schizophrenia. However, the findings reveal that children whose parents were in the womb during the Holocaust are more likely to develop a more severe form of schizophrenia.

This finding suggests an epigenetic mechanism, essentially arising from environmental influences on the way genes expressed themselves.

“Likely these are transmitted from the parental environment to the child,” said Professor Stephen Levine at the University of Haifa.

Levine led research with Professor Itzhak Levav of the Department of Community Mental Health at the University of Haifa, together with Inna Pugachova, Rinat Yoffe, and Yifat Becher of the Ministry of Health.

The findings are published in the journal Schizophrenia Research.

More info:

http://psychcentral.com/news/2016/09/18/children-whose-parents-were-in-utero-during-holocaust-may-develop-more-severe-schizophrenia/110010.html

Been to a couple of the concentration camps…the energy is terrible even after all the years… I don’t doubt that it has effects on the children’s children…they were made to suffer beyond compare…

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my son whose in the army had to g to all the camps its just terrible,

i feel so awful for anyone who survived and their children because its not like they show on the movies, i dont think they could make a movie so hurtful it would just make people ill.

Its one of those things that’s so horrible a real life movie would almost be unwatchable…I’ve also seen the killing fields in Cambodia…the khymer rouge slaughtered its own people in record setting numbers most estimates place it well beyond the scale of the ww2 concentration camp numbers sadly it received almost no coverage…I wonder if a similar study of the survivors would yield similar results…

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I was misinformed on the numbers…2.2 million is still a large amount though…happend in the late 70s…

This is fascinating. I know I should be disgusted with humanity, but it’s just very interesting that being exposed to trauma at an early age can even change your DNA. Even the parents who were toddlers during the holocaust were more likely to have children with schizophrenia. How old do we get before our genes are set in stone?

Research from 2014.

I find this really scary.

My child’s father had schizophrenia, autism and personality disorder in the family and was badly traumatized as a child.

I suffer from psychotic symptoms, and was traumatized as a child and adult and had lots of stress during pregnancy.

I’m afraid of what we passed on to our son. I wonder if there are any corrective mechanisms.

Fish oil - high in EPA fish oil - has had some success in lowering risk of schizophrenia in people at high risk. I recommend you read this page and have your son take daily fish oil:

Preferably the composition includes about 700 mg of EPA and at least about 480 mg of DHA.

the … dose of EPA administered to the subject per day is about 700 mg and the final dose of DHA administered to the subject per day is 480 mg. The composition may be administered in multiple dosages over the period of the day. For example, 4 capsules may be administered over the course of the day (two in the morning and two in the evening). However, other administration (such as once daily, or twice daily) are not excluded.

Whilst it is possible that EPA and DHA be administered alone, it is preferable that they are administered together in a single composition. When in a single composition, EPA and DHA are present in a ratio of between about 3:1 and 7:5, preferably between about 3:2 and 7:5. Accordingly, preferably the composition includes EPA and DHA (when combined) in a concentration of more than about 50%, preferably more than about 55%, more preferably about 60%.

Read the full story here:

Also - I would give children a good dose of Methyl B12 - see this news story:

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Thanks! I bought some fish oil for children. The doses are somewhat lower (but he is still small, so that might be better), but the ratio is right and it seems like a good brand.

I will look into the B12 as well.

How do you know?

I recommend you review the rankings of the manufacturers at this rating web site for Supplements. I’ve heard of the guys who started this company and they do extensive evaluation of the supplements via lab tests to validate the quality of the supplements:

Labdoor.com Supplement Ratings - for Fish Oil:

I don’t. They have some certificates and good things on their websites. Thanks for the comparing website! I will look into it, see which brands are available here and have junior-versions.

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ALso - be sure to review the section on our web site on preventing schizophrenia:

http://www.schizophrenia.com/prevention.htm

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I just studied the holocaust in school and I got schizophrenia.

Oh god if the watered down version ■■■■■■ you up…don’t ever visit any of the concentration camps…

It did! Not sure I’m ready to visit the camps yet. Ive read all the books and have family that left Germany right before it started. I had to watch all kinds of videos on the Holocaust as a kid too.

I have visited Auschwitz. It left me silent, sad and humble for a long, long while after. I’m not sure if I find it fitting as a “tourist trip” however.

One of the things I remember is we were there with school, and all of us were freezing, even with our thick clothes and coats on. Some even complained about that. Until we learned the people who were held captive there only had very thin clothes, no coats, nothing to keep them warm. Even in the midst of winter. Only the constant cold must already have been torture. Let alone all the other things that happened there.

The people who have survived the camps, and those that were even still capable of loving and trusting others after all that, must have been really strong.

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labdoor.com is really eye-opening. What I thought were good vitamins are actually not pure and the label is a big lie.