Early life and adult disease

The idea that what happens early in life is important in determining disease in adulthood is gaining ever more credence, and three papers in this BMJ add more evidence.

An association between perinatal events and adult schizophrenia has been reported for over 30years, but many studies have been small. The case-control study from Sweden reported on p 421 includes 167patients with schizophrenia, 198with affective psychosis, 292with reactive psychosis, and five controls for each. Schizophrenia was positively associated with multiparity, maternal bleeding during pregnancy, and birth …