Schizophrenia Predisposing Factors Schizophrenia at

Schizophrenia Predisposing Factors Schizophrenia at least in part involves genetic predisposing factors. Genetics have been implicated in the etiology of schizophrenia since the disease was first classified as a mental illness. Research into genetic factors also helped differentiate schizophrenia from the more general and misleading term dementia praecox, which was a term used first by Benjamin Morel in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1908, Eugen Bleuler coined the term schizophrenia and elucidated most of the common symptoms of the illness.

Bleuler's classification and his description of the symptoms of the disease including flattened affect remain valid. As early as 1916, schizophrenia was investigated for its genetic predisposing factors (Faraone, Taylor and Tsuang 2002). Before the Human Genome Project, however, most studies involved circumstantial factors such as investigating the prevalence of schizophrenia among monozygotic twins separated at birth. Thus, genetics partly set the stage for the disorder. Individuals who develop schizophrenia most likely have a genetic predisposition toward the disease.

Those who suffer from the disorder are more likely to have had an immediate family member who was also diagnosed with schizophrenia. Faraone, Taylor & Tsuang (2002) point out that "the approximate lifetime risks to first-degree relatives were estimated to be 6% for parents, 9% for siblings, 13% for offspring with one schizophrenic parent and 46% for offspring with two schizophrenic parents." The more distant the relationship the less likely a person is to have genetic predisposing factors. Clearly, having two schizophrenic parents sets the genetic stage for the disease.

Having one parent diagnosed with schizophrenia makes one more likely to suffer from the disorder than others too. However, having one or even both parents with schizophrenia does not automatically mean an individual will develop the disorder. Environmental factors may also affect the disease etiology but environmental triggers are difficult to isolate in research. Research points more to genetic factors that predispose individuals toward developing the illness.

In Finland, research into communities with high prevalence of the disease clarify possible genetic predisposing factors (Hovatta, Varilo, Suvisaari, Terwilliger, Ollikainen, Araj rvi, Juvonen, Kokko-Sahin, V is nen, Mannila, Lnnqvist & Peltonen 1999). Hovatta et al. (1999) were able to trace ancestry as far back as the seventeenth century to determine how strong the genetic causal factors for schizophrenia are in Finland. Genome scans make discovering genetic causes a valid and reliable source of research material, versus the more correlational studies that investigate environmental factors suspected in predisposing individuals toward developing schizophrenia.

However, research does point to issues like birth order in determining the etiology of the illness. Haukka, Suvisaari & Lnnqvist (2004) note that having a sibling who is five years older, or being the firstborn child elevates risk for developing the disease, whereas having siblings who are more than ten years older minimizes the risks for developing schizophrenia. Other causal factors are variable and no environmental factors seems more relevant than any other in triggering the onset of schizophrenia in persons predisposed to it genetically.

Individuals who develop schizophrenia will almost always have a schizophrenic relative, even if no one in the family was officially diagnosed. Diagnostic measures affect research into disease etiology; several centuries ago a person with schizophrenia might simply have been labeled as "insane." Thus, the only individuals who will not develop the disease are those who have absolutely no genetic predisposition toward it unless genetic mutations are implicated. Faraone et al. (2002) note that genetic mutations do indeed play a role in the etiology of schizophrenia.

Other researchers point to structural factors such h as abnormal fetal brain development: which would imply that schizophrenia can also be considered a developmental abnormality. B. Precipitating Factors The manifestation of symptoms begins at the most concrete level with alterations in neurotransmitters and/or changes in cerebral blood flow patterns. Specifically, dopamine and serotonin are implicated in schizophrenia. With no set formula, upsetting the balance of neurotransmitters can precipitate disease symptom onset. Stress and other environmental triggers are implicated in the increase or decrease of symptoms.

Social isolation may be a major environmental trigger. Substance abuse is also implicated as a factor that may precipitate symptom onset. Birth defects and complications that surface during childhood development, exposure to pathogens, and head injury may also precipitate disease onset. Symptoms vary and so do patterns of symptom onset. Mainly involving profound shifts in communication and personality patterns, the symptoms of schizophrenia include social withdrawal, inappropriate emotional responses, delusional thinking, paranoid thinking, perceptual distortions, and psychotic episodes that may or may not involve hallucinations.

Nonsensical speech, often referred to as disorganized language, is another common sign that the illness has set in. Hearing voices in the head is a common manifestation of the illness. Someone suffering from the disorder often feels like they are being watched, monitored, or told what to do. No one trigger is implicated in all cases, and symptoms may manifest gradually over time. Each person who suffers from schizophrenia will demonstrate different features of the illness, and different symptoms will manifest at different times.

Although schizophrenia is a brain disorder, its symptoms are behavioral. The disorder is diagnosed primarily through observations of the person's behaviors and may later include brain scans, which usually reveal abnormalities. The patient's responsiveness to antipsychotic medications may also indicate presence of the disorder. A person who is predisposed to developing schizophrenia may start exhibiting symptoms such as bizarre behavior, use of strange or unusual language, changes in personality, diminished social life, apathy, withdrawal, flattened affect (emotionless behavior), sensitivity to light or smells, odd behaviors including self-mutilation, irritability,.