Do you know what are the causes of Schizophrenia?

Scientist discovered that the causes of schizophrenia affected by the genes as well as environment.

 Genes:  research found that   schizophrenia within the family. Schizophrenia occurs in 1% of the general population, but it occurs in 10 % of people who have a first-degree relative with the disorder, such as a parent, brother, or sister. People who have second-degree relatives such as aunts, uncles, grandparents, or cousin with the disease also can have a chance to develop schizophrenia. The risk of this illness is highest for an identical twin with schizophrenia. He or she has a 40 to 65 % chance of developing the disorder.

Environment: Scientists believes that the interactions between people and the environment are necessary for schizophrenia to develop. Many environmental factors may lead to this disorder, such as exposure to viruses or malnutrition before birth, problems during birth, and exposure to virus during infancy.

Symptoms of Schizophrenia

The symptom of schizophrenia is divided into 3 categories: 

positive symptom, 

negative symptom and 

cognitive symptom.

1) Positive symptom.

It is the psychotic behaviour that only possesses by schizophrenia people but not a normal people. Eg: delusion, thought disorder, movement disorder and hallucination.

2) Negative symptom. 

It is when people of schizophrenia does not possesses the behaviour that normal people have. Eg: Lack of emotional, lack of interest or enthusiasm, seeming lack of interest in the world and speech difficulties and abnormalities.Behavioral deficiencies also associated with schizophrenia, such as social skills deficits, social withdrawal, flattened affect, poverty of speech and thought, psychomotor retardation, and failure to experience pleasure.

3) Cognitive symptoms.

It is only can be recognize through several task for example, poor executive functioning (the ability to understand information and use it to make decisions),rouble focusing or paying attention, and problems with working memory (the ability to use information immediately after learning it).

  

Schizophrenia On Film!!!

A Beautiful Mind

A Beautiful Mind is a film which shows about one person begins developing paranoid schizophrenia and endures delusional episodes.  

This film can be watch online. Click this link to start the movie! Enjoy the show :)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbaqex_a-beautiful-mind-full-movie-part-1_shortfilms

Facts that you need to know about schizophrenia...

1) Schizophrenia usually begins before the age 45, although it begins in young adulthood, there are cases which the disorder begins later (over 45years).

% of  Schizophrenia

 2) Schizophrenia can affect 1% of people worldwide. 

 3) Occur equal rates among men and women, however, males tend to account for more than half of patients in services with high number of young adults. 

 4) Childhood onset schizophrenia begins after the age of 5, after normal development.

 5) Childhood schizophrenia is rare and difficult to identify from other developmental disorders such as autism.

 6) Genetics factors play a big role for the cause of schizophrenia. 

 7) Some psychiatrists prefer to address person with schizophrenia as a group or family of disorders (“the schizophrenias”) rather than as single entity.

 8) The onset of symptoms may be either abrupt (sudden) or insidious (gradual).

 9) Unable to detect for about 2 to 3 years after the onset of diagnosable symptoms, due to the symptoms occur such as panic attacks, social phobia and others which complicate the process of diagnosis.

 10) Patient’s first psychotic episode shows the warning phase, with variety abnormal behaviors for example, angry outburst, withdrawal from social activities, loss of attention to personal hygiene and grooming, loss of capacity of enjoyment and others.

 11) Most common form of hallucination in schizophrenia is auditory which is ‘hearing voices’. 

 12) Patients find difficult to concentrate on work or social activites because of the constant ‘buzz’ of hallucinated voices. 

 13) According NIMH statistics; 20% of patient with schizophrenia recovered the full level of functioning that they had before the onset disorder.



 14) 80% have problems reintegrate with society, difficulty forming relationship with others.

 15) Majority (60%-70%) of patients with schizophrenia do not marry or have children, have very few friends or social contacts.

 16) The impact of the difficulties in social interaction as well as stress caused by symptoms themselves, suicide rate among schizophrenia’s patients were high.

Schizophrenia : What inside the brain?

What happens in the brain? If the person who was diagnosis with schizophrenia, the areas of the brain that implicated are the forebrain, hindbrain and limbic system. The reduction in the volume of grey matter especially in temporal and frontal lobes and also the decreased of brain activity in that area. Neurologists also detected the 25% loss of grey matter in some areas of the brain, which started in partial or outer regions of the brain. Furthermore, in 5 years it can spread to the rest of the brain.

Moreover, patients with the worst brain tissue loss can become hallucinations, delusions, bizarre and psychotic thought, hearing voices and depression. Researchs show that neurotransmitters are the causes in the development of schizorphrenia. Overactive dopamine or excessive levels of dopamine can disrupt all aspects of motor, cognitive and emotional functioning which can lead to acute schizophrenia psychosis..


However, according article written by Cazaban A., based on the newer studies indicate that the neurotransmitter serotonin also can cause this symptom. This was discovered through the tests which shown the patients good result with medications that affect the serotonin as well as dopamine.

Thanks to the emerging of new technology, enabled the researchers especially neurologists to study or examine the structure of schizophrenic brains using MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imagery) and MRS (Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy).




The affected brains were examined and being compared with the normal brain, the findings shown the enlargement of the lateral ventricles, also as stated above, the volume of brain reduced and cerebral cortex become smaller.


Blood circulation also lower in frontal area, whereas temporal lobe structures also become smaller. Not even that area, studies also shown that hippocampus and amygdala reduced in volume. Limbic system which control the mood and emotion and also Superior Temporal Gyrus(STG) involved in language function also notable smaller.