[Source:  Medical News Today]

At first glance, it seems like schizophrenia and autism are completely different , but a new discovery shows us that they have similar roots, linked with other mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder. Comparable traits are seen in both disorders, including a limited ability to lead a normal life and function in the real world, as well as social and cognitive dysfunction.
New research by Dr. Mark Weiser of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine and the Sheba Medical Center has revealed a genetic connection between these two autism and schizophrenia, causing an elevated risk within families.
Weiser and his team examined extensive databases in Israel and Sweden and found that people with a schizophrenic sibling are 12 times more likely to have autism than those without schizophrenia in the family.
People that had a sibling with bipolar disorder showed a similar relationship, but to a minor degree.
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