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[Obstetric complications and risk of schizophrenia. An association appears undisputed, yet mechanisms are still

Christina Dalman1

  • 1christina.dalman@smd.sll.se

Lakartidningen
|July 2, 2003
PubMed

This paper reviews the literature on obstetric complications (e.g. premature births and hypoxia at birth) and the later development of schizophrenia. Some forty studies and two meta-analyses are summarised concerning methods and results. The balance of evidence today supports an association between obstetric complications at different points of time: during foetal life, delivery, as well as during neonatal life. This is supported by other studies of early life risk factors, e.g. infections, maternal stress and famine. Presuming there is a causal relationship, the results may support the view that various underlying "mechanisms" may be associated with schizophrenia. On the other hand this does not exclude a final common pathway. One candidate, among others, is the deleterious effects of hypoxia, hypoglycaemia, and hyperbilirubinaemia on the NMDA-receptors. To further understand how the factors are related, the statistical models in epidemiological research have to be improved and co-operation with other disciplines such as neuropathology and genetics is a necessity.

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