Bad News for Cat Lovers: Studies Link Schizophrenia Risk to Cat Ownership

Life is full of puzzles and grey areas. But there is at least one thing we can all be certain about in this ever-changing world: kittens are adorable. Here’s incontrovertible evidence: Now the bad news: two recent studies have found that a certain parasite found in cats could contribute to schizophrenia and other mental illnesses in …

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Do You Know these 3 Types of Schizophrenia?

Schizophrenia is a debilitating psychiatric disorder with symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, and disorganized thinking. But there are multiple forms of the disease which vary from person to person. Here are three common types of schizophrenia: Paranoid Schizophrenia: This is the most common form of schizophrenia. People with paranoid schizophrenia believe that actually benign people …

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How to Help Someone Who is Hallucinating

Hallucinations are a common symptom of schizophrenia; they involve false perceptions of things that are not really there. Hallucinations can occur in all five senses: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. It can be frightening when someone you know starts hallucinating. They may act irrationally, impulsively or dangerously. Remain calm and remember these tips: Approach …

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What do You Know about Schizophrenia?

  Schizophrenia is a long-term psychiatric disorder that causes social withdrawal, hallucinations, delusions and disability. Schizophrenia affects over two million Americans, roughly one percent of the U.S. population. The symptoms of schizophrenia generally begin in young adulthood, and symptoms can intensify slowly and gradually. Onset of schizophrenia in women is often later than in men. …

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Molecule Could Provide Clues to Origins of Schizophrenia

Change to in utero brain development caused by a certain molecule could increase a person’s risk of developing schizophrenia and a variety of other psychiatric problems, according to a team of scientists at the Scripps Research Institute. The researchers, led by Professor Jerold Chun, focused on a lipid molecule called lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), which is …

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Aerobic Exercise Boosts Cognition in Schizophrenia, Study Finds

Regular aerobic exercise may improve cognition and memory in people with schizophrenia, according to a new study published in the journal Schizophrenia Bulletin. The study examined 33 schizophrenia patients randomly assigned to two treatment groups. The first group, a control, received a standard treatment regimen for the psychotic disorder. The other group received the standard …

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New Report Challenges our Understanding of Schizophrenia

A new report is challenging the way we think about psychosis and schizophrenia. After 20 years of research, a group of psychologists from eight U.K. universities say that our view of schizophrenia as a frightening, dangerous disease may be counterproductive. “Psychosis” is traditionally defined as a loss of touch with reality. In schizophrenia, this often …

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Mice Study Shows Brain Patterns Linked to Schizophrenia

Researchers with the University of California (UC), San Francisco, have identified abnormalities in the brain activity of mice that could be linked to schizophrenia symptoms in humans. These abnormalities may contribute to difficulties in learning, concentration and decision-making, the study suggests. Previous research has found a connection between schizophrenia and a group of neurons in …

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What Happens When Your Partner Has Schizophrenia?

  When one spouse in a marriage has schizophrenia, it is often because they met before the onset of the illness. “Schizophrenia makes it hard for people to form close bonds. People tend to stay single,” says schizophrenia expert Dr. Dost Ongur. The onset of schizophrenia can be jarring for the healthy spouse. Someone you …

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Could All Mental Illnesses Have a Common Link Inside the Brain?

Researchers have discovered a similar pattern of grey-matter loss in the brain across a broad range of psychiatric disorders, suggesting that mental illnesses with differing symptoms could arise from the same neurological basis. Their findings challenge the assumption of differentiating mental disorders by symptoms rather than by brain pathology. Dr. Amit Etkin of Stanford University, …

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