The risk factors are very diverse. Having a parent with the disease would increase the risk. Exposure to a virus, such as the influenza virus, during intrauterine life would be another risk factor. For its part, an Inserm team ¹ observed, for example, after analyzing 13 studies on the subject, the effect offather’s age on the onset of the disease. Scientists have shown that the risk increases with age, from 35 years, with a risk multiplied by two at this age, then by four at 50 years. Other researchers had already arrived at the same results, some also showing a link between age and bipolar disorder and between age and autism. Finally, the consumption of cannabis could also double the risk of schizophrenia.

People at risk

Schizophrenia affects all walks of life, and both men and women. However, the disease would develop earlier in men (between 15 and 25 years against 20 and 30 years for women) and would be more disabling.