Schizophrenia is a serious and chronic mental illness that affects how an individual believes, feels, and acts. New research indicates that pregnant women who are distressed have schizophrenia genes “turned on” in the placenta from complicated pregnancies
The reason for schizophrenia is not fully understood, it is thought to be abnormalities in brain chemistry, possible viral infections/immune conditions as well as hereditary.
Individuals suffering with schizophrenia seem to have lost touch with reality.
Signs of schizophrenia typically begin between ages sixteen and thirty years old. Only in extremely rare cases, do children under sixteen have schizophrenia too.
The signs of schizophrenia can be put into three categories: cognitive, negative, and positive.
The cognitive signs are shifts in their memory or other parts of thinking and consist of:
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- Low ability to comprehend information and apply it to make choices.
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- Unable to keep focus or stay attentive.
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- Issues with the working memory.
The negative signs are skills that are lost from the individuals personality and consist of:
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- Tough time starting or finishing activities.
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- Low levels of pleasure or uninspired for everyday life.
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- Minimal expression of emotions through facial expression or tone of voice (Flat Affect).
The positive signs are changes that are an addition to the individuals personality and consist of:
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- Abnormal thoughts (dysfunctional or usual thought process)
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- Delusional
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- Hallucinations
Numbers have shown around one percent of the world population struggle with schizophrenia with around two million in the United States (National Institute of Mental Health).
Studies in the past have shown that up to eighty percent of the reason for developing the illness is in the individual’s genetic make-up.
Studies have shown a high association of genes linked with risk for schizophrenia and past severe pregnancy complications. All the people had gone through genetic screening and were surveyed for pregnancy history information.
People who have a high genetic danger and whose moms had difficulties during pregnancy had at least a five-times higher threat of developing schizophrenia in contrast to people that also have a high hereditary threat but no history of extreme complications during the pregnancy.
From there, the team studied gene expression which is the way genes are coded to produce DNA, in many placenta tissue samples, including samples of placenta from complicated pregnancies that include preeclampsia and intrauterine advancement restriction.
Regularly, in ladies with complex pregnancies, schizophrenia genes in the placenta were “turned on” and, the more they were turned on, the more the placenta revealed other indications of being under tension, for instance, being more inflamed.
Dr. Daniel Weinberger, lead research study investigator and CEO of the Lieber Institute specified, “For the first time, we have discovered a description for the connection in between early life issues, hereditary danger, and their influence on mental illness and all of it converges on the placenta
With the various types of developmental behavioral conditions, consisting of schizophrenia, ADHD and autism, one mystery has been that the occurrence rates are two to four times higher in men than in females.
The Lieber Institute team discovered that the schizophrenia genes “turned on” in the placenta from complicated pregnancies were substantially more copious in placentas from male infants compared with female infants.
Dr. Weinberger states, “The surprising outcomes of this research study make the placenta the centerpiece of a new world of biological evaluation related to how genes and the environment interact to modify the trajectory of human brain development.”
Dr. Weinberger says he hopes future research study concentrates on therapy treatments and prevention techniques to eventually reduce the occurrence of these behavior conditions. For more information about mental health issues visit HelpingDisorders.com.
Source: The Recover Newsroom
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