Over a million Americans suffer from schizophrenia, a debilitating and severe mental disorder characterized by paranoia, hallucination, delusion, and movement disorders such as agitation. It also affects their cognitive process.
For many years, health experts believe that genes play a huge role in the development of the illness, especially since over 10% of the sufferers have first-degree relatives who also develop it. A new study, however, may eventually shed light on what these genes are and how they work together.
In what is now being referred to by health experts as a significant study in this area of mental health, the researchers of Washington University School of Medicine discovered that although genes can determine the likelihood of developing schizophrenia, we are also not referring to a single gene type but 8 distinct disorders.
To come up with the study, which you can now read online in American Journal of Psychiatry, the researchers looked into the DNA sequences of over 4,000 men and women who were diagnosed with the mental disorder. They then compared the variations in the genes of the DNA with the individual signs and symptoms of the participants and realized that these genes do form clusters, which then create 8 of the unique types of the disease.
This isn't the first study that establishes the connection between genes and schizophrenia. A July 24, 2014, study published in Nature called "Biological Insights from 108 Schizophrenia-associated Genetic Loci" already mentioned that the disease may be caused by 108 genes. However, the scientists weren't able to identify the specific genes that make a person at risk.
With this new Washington University study, it may already be possible to determine why person A has a higher risk than person B based on the gene clusters he has.
Moreover, according to the researchers, genes working by themselves are generally weak. However, they also don't function independently but in harmony with the other genes. It's this type of relationship that can significantly increase the risk to as much as 100%.
