A researcher at the University of Haifa says he has found that people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes face a 50 percent higher risk of developing late-onset schizophrenia compared to people without diabetes. For women, the risk may be even higher.

“Type 2 diabetes is already known to raise the risks of multiple health conditions, including heart disease and dementia,” said lead researcher Prof. Stephen Levine of Haifa’s School of Public Health, who recently spoke to The Times of Israel in a teleconference call. “Our findings show it also increases the risk of schizophrenia in middle and old age.”

The researcher said the findings could allow early identification of high-risk individuals and lead to new protocols that include psychiatric monitoring and support as an integral part of diabetic patient care.

The study followed more than 99,000 Israelis aged 51 to 71, all members of Meuhedet Health Services and without a prior history of Type 2 diabetes or schizophrenia, from January 2005 to February 2020.

It found that those with Type 2 diabetes were 50% more likely to develop schizophrenia than those who did not have the blood sugar disorder. Among women, the figure rose to 64%, while men were 39% more likely, Levine said.

The research was conducted in collaboration with Prof. Arad Kodesh from Haifa’s Department of Community Mental Health and Meuhedet Health Services and Prof. Abraham Reichenberg from the Department of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

It was published last month in the peer-reviewed Oxford University Press journal Schizophrenia Bulletin.

“The research might help prevent considerable suffering for patients and their families,” Levine said.

Levine said there are several reasons why Type 2 diabetes, also known as adult-onset diabetes, and late-onset schizophrenia sometimes occur together.

First, the association might be due to the same genes in both conditions. One diabetes-related gene, TCF7L2, which helps control insulin........

© The Times of Israel