September 26, 2004

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  Suicide 'determined at birth'
  

  
  

  The likelihood of a person committing suicide is partly determined as early as at birth, researchers believe. The Swedish team looked at 700,000 adults and found low birthweight and being born to a teenage mother meant a two-fold rise in suicide risk.

  
  

  The report also said risk increased for shorter babies. The authors, from the National Centre for Suicide Research and Prevention in Stockholm, said it proved genetics played an important role in suicides.

  
  

  Babies weighing 2kg or less were more than twice as likely to commit suicide as adults than those weighing between 3.25kg and 3.75kg, according to the findings published in The Lancet.

  
  

  Children born to mothers under 19 years old were also more than twice as likely to commit suicide as those born to women aged 20 to 29.
  

  Suicide risk also increased for those born to mothers who did not proceed beyond secondary school or had had at least three other children.
  

   

  • 6:05 am
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