Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a group of psychotic disorders characterized by disturbances in thought, perception, affect, behavior, and communication lasting longer than 6 months. Approximately 1 percent of the population develops schizophrenia during their lifetime and more than 2 million Americans suffer from the illness in a given year. Although schizophrenia affects men and women, the disorder often appears earlier in men, usually in the late teens or early twenties, than in women, who are generally affected in the twenties to early thirties. Delusions and hallucinations, alterations of the senses, an inability to sort and interpret incoming sensations, an altered sense of self and changes in emotions, movements and behavior are specific abnormalities frequently noted in individuals, suffering from this disorder.

The symptoms of schizophrenia are: delusions, hallucinations, and loosening of associations (thoughts become chaotic). Symptoms are often divided into the categories of positive and negative or the presence of unusual behavior and the lack of normal behaviors (unresponsiveness) respectively. The symptoms of schizophrenia are often classified as positive and negative. Both types of symptoms can cause special problems in social functioning and contribute to the stigma because of schizophrenia. In most patients with schizophrenia, positive and negative symptoms are present in different proportions at different periods of the illness.

Scientists have tried through the years to attribute schizophrenia to one brain abnormality or another, but solid proof has been lacking. People with the disorder often have a sense that they are being spied on or persecuted and report hearing voices that no one else does. Currently, there is no reliable predictor of the disease. Commonly, those with the disorder and their families deny anything is wrong for months or even years. Part of the illness is that you don't recognize that you are sick, so there often is a big delay between onset and getting so sick that you come in for treatment.

There is no known single cause of schizophrenia. Many diseases, such as heart disease, result from interplay of genetic, behavioral, and other factors; and this may be the case for schizophrenia as well. Scientists do not as yet understand the factors leading to this condition.
The following are some of the factors, which are now being questioned as the causes of this disease.

Hereditary - It has long been known that schizophrenia runs in families. People who have a family history of schizophrenia are more likely to develop the disorder than people who have none. For example, a monozygotic (identical) twin of a person with schizophrenia has the highest risk – 40 to 50 percent – of developing the illness. A child whose parent has schizophrenia has about a 10 percent chance. By comparison, the risk of schizophrenia in the general population is only about 1 percent.
Scientists are now studying genetic factors in schizophrenia. It seems that multiple genes are involved in creating a predisposition to developing this disorder. Factors such as prenatal difficulties like intrauterine starvation, viral infections, prenatal complications, and various nonspecific stressors apparently influence the development of schizophrenia. However, it has not as yet been understood how the genetic predisposition is transmitted, and it cannot yet be accurately predicted whether a given person will or will not develop the disorder.

Chemical Defect In The Brain - Basic knowledge about brain chemistry and its link to schizophrenia is expanding rapidly. Neurotransmitters (substances that allow communication between nerve cells) have long been thought to be involved in the development of schizophrenia. It is likely, although not yet certain, that the disorder is associated with some imbalance in the complex, interrelated chemical systems of the brain, perhaps involving neurotransmitters. This area of research is promising.

Physical Abnormality In The Brain - Many studies of people with schizophrenia have found abnormalities in brain structure (for example, enlargement of the fluid-filled cavities, called the ventricles, in the interior of the brain, and decreased size of certain brain regions) or function (for example, decreased metabolic activity in certain brain regions). It should be emphasized that these abnormalities are quite subtle and are not characteristic of all people with schizophrenia and neither do they occur only in individuals with this illness. Microscopic studies of brain tissue after death have also shown small changes in distribution or number of brain cells in people with schizophrenia. It appears that many (but probably not all) of these changes are present before an individual becomes ill, and schizophrenia may be, in part, a disorder in development of the brain.
In other studies, investigators using brain-imaging techniques have found evidence of early biochemical changes, which may precede the onset of disease symptoms, prompting examination of the neural circuits that are most likely to be involved in producing those symptoms.

Since the causes of schizophrenia are not fully understood by scientists there is no way of preventing it either.

There are five recognized types of schizophrenia: catatonic, paranoid, disorganized, undifferentiated, and residual. Each of these has their own symptoms, which are as follows:

Catatonic type 

Avoiding alcohol drinks and smoking is a must for schizophrenic patients. Food is important not only for curing illness, but for preventing it. Maintaining a healthy diet and taking nutritional meals along with fresh fruits and vegetables is necessary for the patient. It helps the patient in recovering.

Schizophrenia is generally considered to result from a combination of environmental stress and an inborn vulnerability to psychosis. It is usually expressed in late adolescence as manifested in cognitive and social impairments. The presence of a deficit process has been clearly demonstrated at the onset of positive symptoms of schizophrenia, however when and whether these deficit processes are present in the prodromal phase is unclear. Neuropsychologic tests are the current best measures of these deficits. Plenty of rest is necessary.

The people around a schizophrenic patient need to understand the state of mind of the patient and learn to help him. It is important to remember that the patient is not at fault, it’s a state of mind that can be helped through proper therapy. Schizophrenia is a (biological) disease (of the brain) that ebbs & flows. Patients themselves, & those close to them, must recognize hallucinations as symptoms of illness. Discussions about their objective truth or plausibility are not valuable. Families & friends must first realize that delusions are a result of illness & not stubbornness or stupidity. Although fixed delusions can be irritating, emotional reactions should be avoided, as should taunts or threats. There is almost always something about the delusional belief that can be empathized with.