- Title: AUSTRALIA: SCIENTISTS IDENTIFY GENES THAT MAY CAUSE SCHIZOPHRENIA
- Date: 13th August 2004
- Summary: VIDEO OF SIMULATED HALLUCINATIONS
- Embargoed: 28th August 2004 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: SYDNEY AND MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
- City:
- Country: Australia
- Topics: General,Health
- Reuters ID: LVA1OMEXPALCF772Y868NMVG69HC
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- Story Text: The mystery of schizophrenia is being unravelled with a breakthrough identifying a number of genes that may cause the disorder.
Australian scientists are unravelling the mystery of schizophrenia with a breakthrough identifying a number of genes that may cause the disorder.
Researchers at the Melbourne Mental Health Research Institute have been collecting tissue from brains, post-mortem, for the past four years and have isolated 69 genes which may hold the key to both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Each of the genes have higher or lower levels of ribonucleic acid (RNA), which transfers genetic information from DNA to proteins, than genes in the brain of people who have not had a psychiatric illness.
"Everybody is very excited about this sort of research.
It is certainly making the breakthroughs that we hope. We are probably going to identify within the next five years genes affected by schizophrenia, these are genes that have actually mutated to contribute to causing schizophrenia.
Just to make an example, straight genetics has been trying to do this for 15 years already, so it does look like this approach is going to be very productive,"
Associate-professor Brian Dean of the Melbourne Mental Health Research Institute said.
So far, the scientists have looked at eight brains from people who had schizophrenia, eight from people with bipolar disorder and eight from people who did not have any psychiatric illness.
The scientists are now beginning a much larger study of about 200 brains as part of their intensive investigation of the 69 key genes.
Schizophrenia is a general term referring to psychotic disorders that produce delusional or illogical thinking.
Initial signs of the disease typically emerge in people in their teens or 20s.
Around one in every hundred people have the chance of developing schizophrenia.
Richard McLean is one of those sufferers. However, he is one of the lucky ones. His brain reacts to medicated drugs which keep the symptoms at bay.
"I mean the medication is so much an important part to anyone with a mental illness if a psychiatrist of doctor deems it's important to treat people with a medication. And of course there are side-effects and drawbacks as well. But usually if the benefits outweigh the benefits then people can just be more productive in life and I am definitely am more productive with medication for sure," McLean said.
McLean is able to continue working as a graphic designer. He has even published a book on the experiences of dealing with schizophrenia.
A pharmaceutical company have developed a audio and visual simulation of what someone like McLean would feel like in the throes of the disease.
The viewer puts on a visor with headphones can watch the simulation through a laptop computer.
"This device will be used primarily with heath care professionals, carers and consumers to help people better understand the symptoms associated with schizophrenia, especially the hallucinations they experience," Max Parlo, Corporate Affairs Manager for Janssen-Cilag said.
He has received support from those living with schizophrenia, and also clinicians who believe it an important education tool for the community to better understand the condition. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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