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Psychosomatic Medicine 31:288-299 (1969)
© 1969 American Psychosomatic Society

Prevalence of Physical Illness in Parents of Identical Twins Discordant for Schizophrenia

FREDERICK G. GUGGENHEIM MD1, WILLIAM POLLIN MD1, JAMES R. STABENAU MD1, and LOREN R. MOSHER MD1

1 Section on Twin and Sibling Studies, Adult Psychiatry Branch, NIMH, US Public Health Service

As part of an ongoing psychobiologic study of monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia, the medical histories of the parents of 15 such sets of twins were examined. An increased lifetime prevalence of various types of documented thyroid disease (7:15) was found in the mothers. A possible increased prevalence of physical diseases in general was found in both the mothers and fathers. The large amount of physical illness may reflect an artifact of our sampling--ie, in response to our offer to assess the health problems of the family. If so, our findings exemplify how subtle factors, seemingly unrelated to the psychological study of these twins, can influence the composition of our sample. However, an increase in physical illness in these parents is compatible with the hypothesis that the lives of these parents, especially the mothers, were subjected to an abnormally high amount of chronic stress.

Submitted on January 22, 1969




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 Arch Gen PsychiatryHome page
L. R. Mosher, W. Pollin, and J. R. Stabenau
Identical Twins Discordant for Schizophrenia: Neurologic Findings
Arch Gen Psychiatry, May 1, 1971; 24(5): 422 - 430.
[Abstract] [PDF]


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