Schizophrenia can be caused when genes are duplicated or deleted in an often random process that isn't inherited from parents, new research says.

This finding, published in three independent studies, identified new genetic variants that increase the risk of schizophrenia and may open ways to new methods for classifying and diagnosing people with the mental illness

Parents who care for mentally-challenged children are prone to develop weak immune systems due to stress, new research suggests. The study concluded that such parents should be offered a better support system.

Researchers at Birmingham University analyzed 60 parents who received the pneumococcal vaccine as part of the study. Half of them had children with developmental disabilities

Gov. Rod Blagojevich of Illinois is pushing a bill requiring insurance companies to cover the costs of treating children with autism. The governor wants insurance companies to cover up to $36,000 a year for treatments such as speech and occupational therapies for children with autism.

If the bill is passed, policies would also include the cost of psychiatric services. These costs would have to be paid until the child is 21-years old

Researchers studying more than 100 families linked to autism from the Middle East, Turkey and Pakistan said they had identified at least six new genes that may provide families new hope for future treatment.

The finding, published in the July 11 issue of Science, shows that autism is not only caused by the deletion of some genes but also by turning off other genes. These genes cause disruptions in the brain's ability to form new connections in response to experience

Low-birth weight children and children born prematurely are at a greater risk of developing autism than their healthier counterparts, new research shows.

The risk was especially pronounced among low birth-weight girls, said the authors of the study, which was published in the June issue of Pediatrics. Baby girls weighing less than 2.5 kilograms, or about 5.5 pounds, had 3.5 times increased risk of autism. Baby girls born more than seven weeks early had a 5.4 times increased risk