Melanie, Causes of schizophrenia

There is no solitary and unique cause for schizophrenia. Scientists believe that schizophrenia can result from genetic mishaps. Schizophrenia tends to run in families, rather then a random person on the street. An identical twin of a person who has schizophrenia has the highest percentage of developing the disease, around 40%-50%. The risk of developing schizophrenia in the general population without any relatives who have it is very minimal, around 1%. Scientists are studying the presumed ‘main’ genetic factors that lead to schizophrenia. They have found that prenatal difficulties, such as intrauterine, starvation, and other nonspecific stressors appear to influence the development of schizophrenia. Studies have also shown that schizophrenia tend to evolve when the person’s brain starts to mature. Schizophrenia is virtually undetectable in children and adolescents. Presently, it is not yet possible to detect weather someone will get this disease or not. Yet, the link between schizophrenia and neurotransmitters, which are “substances that allow communication between nerve cells,” has been rowing rapidly. It is presumed, yet not confirmed, that schizophrenia has to deal with the imbalance of these neurotransmitters, specifically dopamine and glutamine. Recent studies in schizophrenia show that abnormalities in brain structure and function are very subtle, and are not an actual characteristic of schizophrenia. Science investigators have found new ways to invent a devise to detect schizophrenia, by using a brain imagine technique that prompts the examination of the neural circuits that are be believed that are producing the ‘symptoms’ of schizophrenia.

Intrauterine: women’s uterus
Neural circuits: Circuits in the brain that are composed of a number of neurons (nerve cells) that communicate with one another through special junctions called synapses. (Synapses: a specialized ‘junction’ at which a neuron communicated with it’ ‘target cell’)

This article proved to actually be very informative. I had first thought that it would be boring, and much too technical. Yet, this was an easy to read article that I enjoyed and found it to be very helpful in my understanding of schizophrenia. I learned that identical twins have an upsettingly higher risk of developing schizophrenia then any other person.

Causes of Schizophrenia. (2012, June 6). Retrieved February 7, 2008, from http://mentalhealth.about.com/od/schizophrenia/a/sz2.htm