Posted on 09/15/2014 7:37:16 PM PDT by BenLurkin
When it comes to schizophrenia and other complex conditions, individual genes have only a weak and inconsistent association (which is why it's often silly to look for single-gene factors). But groups of interacting gene clusters create an extremely high and consistent risk of illness — in this case, on the order of 70% to 100%. It's nearly impossible for people with these precise genetic variations to avoid the condition. In all, the researchers found no less than 42 clusters of genetic variations that significantly increase the risk of schizophrenia.
"In the past, scientists had been looking for associations between individual genes and schizophrenia," explained Dragan Svrakic, PhD, MD, a co-investigator and a professor of psychiatry at Washington University. "When one study would identify an association, no one else could replicate it. What was missing was the idea that these genes don't act independently. They work in concert to disrupt the brain's structure and function, and that results in the illness."
According to Svrakic, the key to the study was in organizing the genetic variations and the patients' symptoms into groups. This allowed them to see that particular clusters of DNA variations acted together to cause specific symptoms. Patients were then divided according to the type and severity of their symptoms. Results showed that those symptom profiles corresponded to eight qualitatively distinct disorders based on underlying genetic conditions.
Importantly, the researchers were able to replicate their findings in two additional DNA databases of people with schizophrenia; they confirmed 34 (81%) or more with similar high risk of schizophrenia with these independent samples.
(Excerpt) Read more at io9.com ...
bttt
Science marches on.
I suffer from schizophrenia.
No, you don’t!
I do, too.
No, you don’t!
Interesting. It seems schizophrenia is from an interplay among genes rather than a single gene disorder. Makes sense but is it predictable? Not yet.
Interesting. I wonder what this implies for the pot use/bipolar/schizophrenic link?
I don’t know about pot use, but I am curious if bi-polar is essentially a mild form of schizophrenia. Maybe some knowledgeable medical FReeper has some insight on the question.
Not 8, it is 9!
Wait it is 10! No it is 20eleven!
Ah Nuts! Yes I is.
Astute observation.
The DSM 5 changed the codes.and criteria for diagnosing schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar.
I knew the answer if you used the DSM IV, but I’ve not read the 5 yet. I know according to IV, you could be bipolar and schizoaffective but not schizophrenic, at the same time.
The Eight:
Nuts
Crazy
Coo-coo
Bonkers
Loopy
Dingy
Daft
Ex-wife
If it is genetic then why do some say it can be induced with drugs (LSD) or bacteria (Lyme Disease)?
Do you suppose that Schizoid Personality Disorder, which sometimes progresses to schizophrenia and sometimes doesn’t, involves an incomplete gene set for the psychotic disorder?
“Schizophrenia has long been blamed on bad genes or even bad parents. Wrong, says a growing group of psychiatrists. The real culprit, they claim, is a virus that lives entwined in every person’s DNA.”
http://discovermagazine.com/2010/jun/03-the-insanity-virus
Just like the “gay virus”.
bi-polar is NOT mild anything.
No, you don’t!
I do, too.
No, you don’t!
I'm not chiding you for the joke - but I would like to use this as a teachable moment (I hope).
I used to think jokes about mental illness were funny too - until my youngest of two sons was diagnosed with Schizoaffective disorder in his early twenties. (My other well son is an AF pilot). Because of how mental illness has been portrayed for so many years in popular culture, the average person without an ill family member has no idea of the hell that families go through when a loved-one has a serious brain disorder; in a system that is completely broken and ill-preparded to really help them. ( For the record, Schizophrenia is not "spilt personality".)
When a family has a child or other relative with any other serious illness, like cancer or diabetes, they find their circle of friends and support grows stronger and people surround them with support. When a family has a child with a serious brain disorder, they often find their friends and support fade away due to the fear and uncertainty of these illnesses. There is a tremendous and very unfair stigma attached to mental illness, which we now know are very real biological illnesses that just happen to affect the brain, and thus complex behaviors.
The only time the general public hears about mental illness is when someone commits a crime, but the truth is, those cases are a very rare exception - there are millions of Americans suffering from these debilitating illnesses who are not violent, but they are definitely suffering in ways that most of us can't comprehend. The reality of mental illness is far from a laughing matter.
As a result of our son's illness, in 2006 my wife and I became very active in the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), the largest most powerful voice advocating for the mentally ill in the world. Eventually, we both became trained teachers for a wonderful program called "Family-to-Family" - a 12 week course designed to help families better understand their relatives illness and give them tools to better navigate the many challenges families face with these illnesses. After a few years, I became the Program Director for this wonderful program in my state and just recently I was trained at NAMI National to be on of two state trainers to train new teachers for this course.
Why am I telling you this? Because I am certain that there are Freepers here who have loved ones suffering from some form of mental illness or brain disorder, such as Schizophrenia, BiPolar, Clinical Depression, PTSD, Anxiety or Panic Disorder, OCD, etc. If you are suffering from any sort of illness like this, I'd urge you to seek out NAMI in your local community. There are NAMI affiliates in most major cites, and many not-so-major cities.
If you are a well family member with a loved-one who suffers with a mental illness, see if they have the Family-to-Family course in your area. It is an evidence-based program and I can't count how many family members have told me the course has saved their lives!. You can learn more about this great program here: NAMI Family-to-Family. (check out the great video on that page)
Thanks for listening.
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