Schizophrenia.com

Will an identical twin stand the same chance of developing schizophrenia

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#1

Will an identical twin stand the same chance of developing schizophrenia if one of the twins already has the illness

#2

Sort of - at a very high level that is true - but details do matter. For example if one twin lived a very healthy life, lower stress, took fish oil/ate lots of salmon (Omega 3s seem to lower risk of schizophrenia), had a higher birth weight (than the other twin, didn’t smoke marijuana and do drugs, etc. - and didn’t have any tramatic or super stressful experiences - and the other identical twin led a very unhealthy lifestyle - smoking pot, doing drugs, had stressful experiences, etc. - the risks between the two might be very different.

Here are some details: http://schizophrenia.com/prev1.htm

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#3

Im a twin. My brother doesnt hear voices.

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#4

Mottec,

Was there any difference in you and your siblings lives that you think might have impacted the risk for schizophrenia/hearing voices between the two of you? Did you experience something (i.e. high stress) that might explain the difference between the two experiences.?

#5

IDK if we are 100% identical, but I think so. I had some hard times that my brother didnt go through, and we have had very different life experiences. But I guess it could also be down to enviromental factors, like in the womb. I’ve read that twins can differ because of different exposure in the womb.