Schizophrenia prediction possible

Schizophrenia prediction possible

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4145047.stm

"The development of schizophrenia can be accurately predicted in high risk groups years before symptoms harden into psychosis, say scientists.

A team from Edinburgh University has found people who go on to develop schizophrenia show subtle signs at an early stage.

This includes social withdrawal, odd behaviour, and feelings of being disconnected from reality.Details are published in the British Journal of Psychiatry.

The Edinburgh High-Risk Study, which began in 1994, aims to pin down why some people at high risk of developing schizophrenia go on to develop the condition, while others, apparently equally vulnerable, do not.

..."

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This is the first time I've seen something about this in the MSM.

my mother suffered from the condition and I often wonder if it's in my genetic make-up. When I was too young to understand I thought she was just not being nice. As I got older, but not necessarily wiser, (ask my friends about that) I realised she had no control over her behaviour. Horrible condition to have to deal with, especially in someone very close.

I'm sorry you had to go through that.

Some sort of mental illness exists in many families -- from obsessive/compulsive, manic depressive etc etc. Many of these conditions go undiagnosed and untreated.

Having a parent like this makes children grow up too fast -- and it is natural to look at families with "normal" parents and realize that your parent has short changed your childhood.

I believe that some right wing "chrisitians" could be classified with a mental illness -- and they are torturing their children. I've heard tiny children (4 or 6 yrs old) of fundies asking for forgiveness for being such a sinful person. They are parroting their parent's prayers -- but no child should ever have to carry such a burden.

Nearly any thorough genealogy will find some sort of mental illness -- either referenced on census reports or in records or histories in the family tree. Even the royal pedigree has recorded some mental illness.

1: Prostaglandins Leukot Essent Fatty Acids. 2006 Feb;74(2):75-85. Epub 2005 Dec 27. Related Articles, Links
Click here to read
Low essential fatty acid and B-vitamin status in a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia and its response to dietary supplementation.

Kemperman RF, Veurink M, van der Wal T, Knegtering H, Bruggeman R, Fokkema MR, Kema IP, Korf J, Muskiet FA.

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, CMC-V, Room Y3.181, University Medical Center Groningen, P.O. Box 30.001, 9700 RB Groningen, The Netherlands. r.f.j.kemperman@rug.nl

We assessed essential fatty acid (EFA) and B-vitamin status, together with their determinants, in 61 patients with schizophrenia and established whether those with poor status responded biochemically to the appropriate dietary supplements. As a group, the patients had high erythrocyte saturated fatty acids (FAs), monounsaturated FA and low polyunsaturated FA of the omega3 and omega6 series. Patients reporting not to take vitamin supplements had low vitamin B12 and high homocysteine. Homocysteine variance proved best explained by folate in both the total group and male patients, and by vitamins B12 and B6 in females. Alcohol consumption and duration of illness are risk factors for low polyunsaturated FA status (< P2.5 of reference range), while male gender and absence of fish consumption predict hyperhomocysteinemia (> P97.5 of reference range). Two patients exhibited biochemical EFA deficiency and seven showed biochemical signs of omega3/docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) marginality. Four patients exhibited moderate hyperhomocysteinemia with plasma values ranging from 57.5 to 74.8 micromol/L. None of the five patients with either moderate hyperhomocysteinemia, biochemical EFA deficiency, or both, was predicted by their clinicians to have poor diets. That diet was nevertheless at the basis of these abnormalities became confirmed after supplementing 4 of them with B vitamins and with soybean and fish oils. We conclude that a subgroup of patients with schizophrenia has biochemical EFA deficiency, omega3/DHA marginality, moderate hyperhomocysteinemia, or combinations. Correction seems indicated in view of the possible relation of poor EFA and B-vitamin status with some of their psychiatric symptoms, but notably to reduce their high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Publication Types:

* Randomized Controlled Trial


PMID: 16384692

1: Drugs. 2005;65(8):1051-9. Related Articles, Links

Omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Peet M, Stokes C.

Swallownest Court Hospital, Doncaster and South Humber Healthcare NHS Trust, Sheffield, UK. malcolmpeet@yahoo.com

The importance of omega-3 fatty acids for physical health is now well recognised and there is increasing evidence that omega-3 fatty acids may also be important to mental health. The two main omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) have important biological functions in the CNS. DHA is a major structural component of neuronal membranes, and changing the fatty acid composition of neuronal membranes leads to functional changes in the activity of receptors and other proteins embedded in the membrane phospholipid. EPA has important physiological functions that can affect neuronal activity. Epidemiological studies indicate an association between depression and low dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids, and biochemical studies have shown reduced levels of omega-3 fatty acids in red blood cell membranes in both depressive and schizophrenic patients.Five of six double-blind, placebo-controlled trials in schizophrenia, and four of six such trials in depression, have reported therapeutic benefit from omega-3 fatty acids in either the primary or secondary statistical analysis, particularly when EPA is added on to existing psychotropic medication. Individual clinical trials have suggested benefits of EPA treatment in borderline personality disorder and of combined omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid treatment for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder. The evidence to date supports the adjunctive use of omega-3 fatty acids in the management of treatment unresponsive depression and schizophrenia. As these conditions are associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease and diabetes mellitus, omega-3 fatty acids should also benefit the physical state of these patients. However, as the clinical research evidence is preliminary, large, and definitive randomised controlled trials similar to those required for the licensing of any new pharmacological treatment are needed.

Publication Types:

* Review


PMID: 15907142

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are at play. That's why these studies are being done.

sounds like every recalcitant and alienated teenager who is outside the ruling group at his or her school that I know of.

If they limit the behavior studies to families of schizophrenics, maybe it would make more sense.

It's a devastating disease. We're just in the infancy of understanding enough brain chemistry to be able to deal with it at all.