Genetics Research
Schizophrenia causes delusions and difficulty thinking. This common psychological disorder can be the result of both environmental and genetic causes. Researchers have conducted several large-scale studies on genetics and schizophrenia to target what types or kinds of genes are known to cause the disease.
For many years, researchers believed that people had just two genes for each trait, one from each parent. However, researchers at the University of North Carolina found that some genes can have several copies of a gene, sometimes reaching the double digits in some spots.
Chromosome Mutations
A study that measured the genetic makeup of almost 3,400 schizophrenia patients found that there were several, not just one, places on the human genome that were associated with schizophrenia, according to researchers at the University of North Carolina, which contributed to a study conducted at the International Schizophrenia Consortium. They found that errors in certain chromosomes could equal a risk prediction factor for schizophrenia. For example, mutations on chromosome 22 increased the risk for schizophrenia 21-fold. Other pinpointed areas included chromosome 15, which increased the risk 18-fold and chromosome 1, which increased risk six-fold.
Another study from the University of Copenhagen, in which 50,000 schizophrenia patients were studied noted similar genetic mutations for the three chromosomes, according to MedicalNewsToday.com. The findings concluded that just as schizophrenia is a complicated disease, so too is the genetic makeup of a schizophrenia patient.
Conclusions
This and other research that corroborates the genetic link to schizophrenia adds to the theory that schizophrenia is caused not by one genetic mutation, but by many. This explains the varied symptoms that can occur with a schizophrenia diagnosis.
These genetic mutations also are known to affect the immune system, which can cause further health problems, according to MedicalNewsToday.com.
Researchers are exploring these genetic markers as a means to seek out treatments that can prevent the gene mutations from presenting or even occurring. Also, the knowledge that several different combinations of mutations can contribute to schizophrenia further helps physicians to evaluate patients based on their individual causes.
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