Marijuana - risk factor for schizophrenia or not? (09/26/06)
Studies on the link between schizophrenia and the use of marijuana have been contradictory. Now two extensive studies, on of them a 15-year Swedish study on 50 000 young people that had used the drug at the time they were 18, once again show that the use of marijuana increases the risk fro schizophrenia.
Source: The Star Phoenix, Friday, Monday, August 28, 2006
Read more in article at www.ncanada.com

Schizophrenic patients studied for diabetes risks (09/25/06)
Previous studies have indicated that there may be a link between schizophrenia and an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. Now another study is being performed in order to investigate if this is true. The researchers are looking at newly diagnosed schizophrenics in a Spanish community to find whether the disease that causes patients to hear voices and smell, feel and even taste unreal objects also increases their risk of diabetes.
Source: Nephr Online, Friday, August 25, and United Press International, Monday, August 21, 2006
Read more in article at www.nephnews.com
Read more in article at www.upi.com

Low levels of insulin in the brain may be associated with schizophrenia (02/06/06)
The body needs insulin to convert sugar in the bloodstream to energy. People whose bodies either don't make enough insulin or don't process it correctly may develop diabetes, which can lead to poor circulation, kidney failure, blindness, and even death. The role of insulin in the brain is less clear, but one thing is certain: when brain cells don't get enough insulin, they die. Now researchers have discovered that impaired insulin metabolism in the brain may play a role in mental illnesses, for instance schizophrenia.
Source: Intel IHealth, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Read more in article at www.intelhealth.com

Pregnant women´s lack of sun and vitamin D can lead to schizophrenia in the child (02/05/06)
A study shows, in agreement with previous indications, that pregnant mothers who suffer from vitamin D deficiency are at higher risk of giving birth to children who develop schizophrenia later in life. Vitamin D is produced in the skin when it is exposed to sunlight, which is the reason to why pregnant kvinnor should also make sure the get enough sun light exposure. Vitamin D is mainly associated with building strong bones. Some food, such as oily fish and some dairy products also contain the nutrient, which can also be taken in dietary supplements.
Source: The Australian, Thursday, February 2, 2006
Read more in article at www.theaustraliannews.com

Stronger evidence for a link between cat faeces and schizophrenia (02/05/06)
It has been shown earlier that there may be a n association between a parasite found in cat faeces, Toxoplasma gondii, and the development of schizophrenia. Now a research team has found that when they treated rats that were infected with Toxoplasma gondii with antipsychotic drugs normally used for treatment of schizophrenia, the medications were more effective at preventing behaviourial alterations as drugs targeted at the parasite. The findings strenghten the evidence for a link between Toxoplasma gondii and schizophrenia.
Source: News Letter, Thursday, January 19, and News-Medical.Net, Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Read more in article at www.newsletter.co.uk
Read more in article at www.news-medical.net

UK: Rise in mental illness linked to unhealthy diets (02/05/06)
Changes in diet over the past 50 years appear to be an important factor behind a significant rise in mental ill health in the UK, say two reports published recently. The reports say
that according to scientific studies, conditions like attention deficit disorder (ADHD), depression, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia are linked to junk food and the absence of essential fats, vitamins and minerals in the diets in the Western world. They also say that unless the government doesn't start focusing on diet and the brain in its food, farming, education and environment policies, the incidence of mental disorders will continue to rise.
Source: Guardian and netdoctor.co.uk, Monday, January 16, 2006
Read more in article at www.guardian.co.uk
Read more in article at news.netdoctor.co.uk

People with serious mental illness have higher rates of type 2 diabetes (09/03/05)
According to a study recently, people with serious mental illness have higher rates of type 2 diabetes than the general population. The study also shows that mentally ill people's knowledge of diabetes is generally poor and significantly lower than it is among people without mental illness.
Source: News-Medical.Net, Thursday, September 1, 2005
Read more in article at www.news-medical.net

Link found between starvation and schizophrenia (08/13/05)
A study of a period of famine in China more than 40 years ago shows that children born to severely malnourished women are more likely to develop schizophrenia. Compared with children born before or after the famine, those born during the disaster were at double the risk of becoming schizophrenic later on.
Source: Suburban Chicago Newspapers, Friday, August 12, and Times Online, Thursday, September 1, 2005
Read more in article at www.suburbanchicagonews.com
Read more in article at www.timesonline.co.uk

Traumatic life events may trigger schizophrenia (07/31/05)
A new study shows that traumatic life events such as complications during birth, drug abuse and stress may have long-lasting effects on behaviour. Exposure to these stress factors can for instance have an impact on the development of mental disorders such as schizophrenia and drug addiction.
Source: Medical News Today, Wedesday, July 6, 2005
Read more in article at www.medicalnewstoday.com

Suicide among schizophrenic patients are associated with certain risk factors (07/17/05)
Suicide is more common among people with schizophrenia than among the general polulation. A large study has now found that the key risk factors are depression, previous suicide attempts, drug misuse, agitation or restlessness, fear of mental disintegration, poor compliance with treatment and recent loss of somebody close.
Source: British Journal of Psychiatry, v. 187, p. 9-20, and RxPG NEWS, Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Read more in article at www.rxpgnews.com
PubMed abstract

One in five children with type 2 diabetes also have a neuropsychiatric disorder (06/25/05)
A new study has found that one in five children with diagnosed type 2 diabetes also have a neuropsychiatric disorder, such as depression, ADHD, autism, developmental delay, schizophrenia, or bipolar disorder.
Source: Pediatric Diabetes, v. 6(2), p. 84-9, and Doctor's Guide, Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Read more in article at www.docguide.com
PubMed abstract

Link between epilepsy and schizophrenia (06/22/05)
A Danish study involving 2.27 million people shows that individuals with a history of epilepsy are at increased risk of developing schizophrenia or schizophrenia-like psychosis. The risk in those patients who had suffered from epilepsy had nearly two and a half times the risk of developing schizophrenia and nearly three times the risk of developing a schizophrenia-like psychosis compared with the general population.
Source: Medical News Today, Friday, June 17, and British Medical Journal, June 17, [Epub ahead of print], 2005
Read more in article at www.medicalnews.com
PubMed abstract

Older dads may increase the risk for schizophrenia in the child (10/29/04)
A Swedish study shows children to older fathers may have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia than those with younger dads. The findings are in agreement with previous studies. 750,000 Swedes born between 1973 and 1980 were investigated in the study.
Source: British Medical Journal, October 22 [Epub ahead of print], and WebMD, Thursday, October 21, 2004
Read more in article at my.webmd.com
PubMed abstract

Gluten allergy linked to schizophrenia (02/24/04)
A new study shows that schizophrenia could be linked to an allergy to gluten, a protein found in wheat and other grains. Gluten intolerance, also known as coeliac disease, can develop at any age but mostly affects people between the ages of 30 and 45, often causing weight loss, diarrhea and fatigue.
Source: British Medical Journal, v. 328(7437), p. 438-9, and EurekAlert and WebMD, Thursday, February 19, and ABC News, Friday, February 20, 2004
Read more in article at www.eurekalert.com
Read more in article at my.webmd.com
Read more in article at www.abc.net.au
PubMed abstract

Kid to sole parent more likely to develop psychiatric illness (01/27/03)
A Swedish study shows that a child that grows up with a single parent is more likely to develop psychiatric illnesses and addictions later in life. The findings are published in the January 25 issue of medical journal The Lancet. About 1 million children were studied for a decade, into their mid-twenties.
Source: The Lancet, v. 361, p. 289-95, and The Seattle Times, Friday, January 24, 2003
Read more in article from The Seattle Times
The Lancet homepage

Cannabis use among young people increases risk for schizophrenia (11/25/02)
A series of articles in BMJ now supports earlier indications that use of cannabis in adolescence, as measured by self report questionnaire, is associated with an increased risk of developing schizophrenia. Further, according to a Swedish epidemiologycal study, this is independent of the effects of other drugs or social personality traits. Another study study shows that early cannabis use (by age 15) is of greater risk than later use (by age 18).
Source: BMJ, volume 325, 2002
Frequent cannabis use affects mental health of young people
Cannabis use is a risk factor for schizophrenia
Cannabis and mental health
Cannabis use and mental health in young people: cohort study
Self reported cannabis use as a risk factor for schizophrenia in Swedish conscripts of 1969: historical cohort study

Schizophrenia drugs linked to risk for heart attack (11/08/02)
Current research shows that drugs used to treat patients with schizophrenia can increase the risk of heart attack. Scientists at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found, in a study where data from 120000 patients in the US were examinded, that schizophrenics who had received medication were more likely to have experienced heart problems than patients with other illnesses. Patients who were treated for schizophrenia had higher rates of cardiac arrest, irregular heart beats, and death.
Source: Science Reuters, Friday, November 8, 2002
Read more in article on Yahoo! - News

Schizophrenia in the mother may contribute to complications during pregnancy and birth (11/01/02)
An epidemiological study at Karolinska Institutet, in which the journals from around 1.5 million births (over 2000 by schizophrenic mothers) were analyzed, shows that schizophrenic mothers are at higher risk of experiencing complications during pregnancy and birth than the general population. The researchers found a significantly increased risk for stillbirth, infant death, preterm delivery, low birth weight, and small-for-gestational-age among the offspring of women with schizophrenia. At the highest risk were women who had had an episode of schizophrenia during pregnancy.
Source: Schizophrenia Research, v. 58(2-3), p. 221-9, 2002
PubMed abstract

Increased risk of suicide among relatives of mentally ill individuals (10/15/02)
A Danish study published in the October 12 issue of the journal Lancet indicates that suicidal behavior may run in families. The results show that relatives of patients who have completed suicide and suffer from mental illness are at significantly higher risk of committing suicide themselves. The authors therefore suggest that a family history of psychiatric illness and suicide should be considered when assessing a person's suicide risk.
Source: Lancet, vol. 360, p. 1126-30, 2002
Read more in article on Lancet's homepage

Mentally ill at risk for dying by unnatural causes (01/03/02)
Individuals with mental disorders are at higher risk of dying from unnatural causes, such as homicide or suicide. When a Danish population including more than 70 000 individuals who had been admitted to hospital with a psychiatric disorder was investigated, the researchers found that every fourth individual had died from unnatural causes. Most of these deaths were by suicide, but also homicide and accidents were significantly more common among those with psychiatric diagnoses. Especially, men with schizophrenia and individuals with affective psychosis were at higher risk for dying by homicide.
Source: The Lancet, vol 358, 2001, p. 2110-2112.

Schizophrenia is detected earlier among persons of higher social status (12/14/01)
Individuals of higher social classes had a slightly increased risk of falling ill with schizophrenia, and they also were diagnosed at an earlier stage of the disease as compared to individuals from lower social classes. These are the main results of a recent study published in the British Medical Journal. A consequence is that persons from lower social classes can be more severely affected by the disease, since they receive treatment at a later stage.
Read an abstract at BMJ
Read an article about the research at BBC

Drug misuse among schizophrenics in London (12/12/01)
Approximately one out of six individuals with schizophrenia or related psychoses reported a lifetime history of non-alcohol substance misuse in a recent British study including 352 individuals living in central London. The most relevant parameters identified for drug misuse were age and gender. According to the researchers "misuse was concentrated in those younger than 36 years and was reported more often by males".
Source: Br J Psychiatry 2001 Dec;179(6):509-513
Read and abstract of the article

Herpes infection in mother might be a risk factor for schizophrenia (11/14/01)
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore, Maryland, have seen an association of maternal herpes infection and schizophrenia later in life for their offspring, according to Reuter Health. The potential risk factor is infection of herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) during pregnancy.
Source: Reuter and Archives of General Psychiatry 2001 November
Read more at Reuter

Five years after a first-episode psychosis (10/22/01)
The incidence rate for a first-episode psychosis was almost 35 per 100,000 inhabitants aged 18-45 years, and 16.5 per 100,000 inhabitants in a total population. This is higher than has earlier been found.

The Swedish Parachute Project is now running on its fifth year, and involves seventeen cooperating clinics. The project focuses on all individuals aged 18-45 in specific catchment areas in Stockholm, who seeks help for psychosis for the first time. This population has now been followed for five years, and incidence rates, treatment, and outcome has been documented.

After five years, the social outcome was negative. Almost three out of four patients diagnosed with schizophrenia syndromes, and almost half of the non-schizophrenic patients, had a sick pension or were on long-term sick leave. However, a group patients were rated as not being in need of treatment at the five-year follow-up (9% of the schizophrenia, and 39% of the non-schizophrenia psychosis patients).

Every third patient who was prescribed neuroleptics experienced non-compliance of medication.
Source: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2001 Jul;36(7):332-7
Read an abstract of the article

Social inequality at birth associated with increased risk of schizophrenia (10/04/01)
Researchers have not yet been able to identify one single factor that leads to schizophrenia; instead members of the scientific community tends to agree that there are several risk factors of importance to the development of the disease. Exposure to a combination of several risk factors might also increase the risk of falling ill.

British scientists have now investigated a potential association between adult-onset schizophrenia and two factors: social class and area of residence. The scientists considers these factors as indicators of social inequality at birth. A matched case-control design was used, including 168 first-episode cases of individuals living in Nottingham, UK. When analyzing the results, the scientists found that subjects whose fathers had lower socioeconomic positions or who were born in areas characterize by higher social deprivation were at significantly increased risk of schizophrenia.

The authors conclude that "Indicators of social inequality at birth are associated with increased risk of adult-onset schizophrenia, suggesting that environmental factors are important determinants of schizophrenic disorders."
Source: Br J Psychiatry 2001 Oct;179:346-50
Read an abstract of the article

Anxiety and schizophrenia (09/24/01)
The British scientists Turnbull and Bebbington hypothesise that anxiety is an integral part of the development of schizophrenia in a significant sub-group of cases. In a paper published in Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, the authors review the evidence for an epidemiological link between anxiety and schizophrenia. A significant link between these two factors was identified and the authors conclude that "This may represent a psychological process integral to an appreciable number of cases of schizophrenia."
Source: Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2001 May;36(5):235-43
Read an abstract of the article

Special research issue on the epidemiology in schizophrenia (01/30/01)
In the last issue from last year European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences presented a special issue on the epidemiology in schizophrenia.
Read more

Outcome for schizoaffective disorders better than for schizophrenia (01/16/01)
People with schizoaffective disorders have a better outcome than those with schizophrenia, but worse than those with psychotic affective disorders, according to this 10-year follow-up study.
Review of the article , editors Prof S. Montgomery and Prof L. Farde
Reference to the journal article in Br J Psychiatry 2000 Nov;177:421-6

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