Twins 'free' from suicide

Twins have a lower risk of suicide compared with the rest of the population, despite being more likely to suffer mental illness, a study claimed today.

Researchers in Denmark identified 21,653 sets of same sex twins born between 1870 and 1930, and recorded the date and cause of death from 1943 to 1993.

They found that both men and women had a substantially lower suicide rate compared with the general population, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal.

There were 211 suicides among the twins studied, compared with an expected number of 292 established from the standard suicide rate.

The researchers said the study supported the view that strong family ties and commitments reduced the risk of suicidal behaviour.

The authors, who used data from the Danish Twin Registry, said the biggest risk factor for suicide was mental illness and past studies had found mental illness to be slightly more common among twins.

'This should lead to a higher proportion of twins committing suicide compared with the general population, but our findings show exactly the opposite, further underscoring the importance of strong family ties,' they concluded.

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