Latest Psychosis Stories

Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have discovered that patients with recent-onset schizophrenia have higher levels of inflammatory substances in their brains. Their findings offer hope of being able to treat schizophrenia with drugs that affect the immune system.The causes of schizophrenia are largely unknown, and this hinders the development of effective treatments. One theory is that infections caught early on in life might increase the risk of developing...

A new study has shown that antipsychotic drugs may be linked to weight gain in kids.Writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), researchers studied the use of name-brand second-generation anti-psychotic drugs, including Abilify, Risperdal, Seroquel and Zyprexa, in 272 kids aged 4 to 19 years.Children involved in the study had not been previously treated with anti-psychotic drugs."First-time second-generation antipsychotic medication use was associated with significant...

A new study by researchers at the Institute of Psychiatry (IoP), King's College London has discovered abnormalities in the white matter of the brain that seem to be critical for the timing of schizophrenia. The study, led by Professor Phillip McGuire and Dr Sophia Frangou, has been published in this month's edition of the British Journal of Psychiatry.The white matter of the brain consists of nerve fibers that connect parts of the brain and help regulate behavior. The normal brain develops in...

Last year the UK government reclassified cannabis from a class C to a class B drug, partly out of concerns that cannabis, especially the more potent varieties, may increase the risk of schizophrenia in young people. But the evidence for the relationship between cannabis and schizophrenia or psychosis remains controversial. A new study has determined that it may be necessary to stop thousands of cannabis users in order to prevent a single case of schizophrenia.Scientists from Bristol,...

AUSTIN, Texas and CAMBRIDGE, England, Oct. 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Rules-Based Medicine, Inc. (RBM) and Psynova Neurotech Ltd. (Psynova) today announced the discovery and characterization of a combination of protein biomarkers demonstrating utility as an adjunctive aid in the differential diagnosis of schizophrenia. As a result of this clinical milestone, RBM has made additional investments in Psynova, and now has a controlling interest in the company. "The discovery of this panel was made...

Sydney study shows fear of mentally ill is misplaced say study authorsInternational study led by Sydney researchers shows homicides of strangers by people with schizophrenia are exceptionally rare and unpredictable events.A study initiated by a team of Sydney researchers published today (Monday 12 October) in the leading schizophrenia journal, Schizophrenia Bulletin, shows that homicides of strangers by people diagnosed with schizophrenia are exceptionally rare events.The study is one of a...

SASKATOON, Saskatchewan, Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- There is nothing more frightening than the loss of one's grip on what is real. That fear, however, is not isolated to the individual suffering the break, but their friends and loved ones as well. "Mind Gone Astray" (published by iUniverse) by Wayne Kallio, examines the impact that this type of illness has on not only the victim, but also the people around them. Kaija was an intelligent, educated and articulate woman. It was a devastating blow...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Galenea Corp., a fully-integrated CNS drug discovery company, announced today that it has been awarded an NIH Challenge Grant in Health and Science Research (RC1) as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Recovery Act). This two-year grant from the National Institute of Mental Health addresses the specific topic of "Screening Approaches to Identify Pharmacologic Treatments for Mental Disorders" within the challenge area of...

British scientists said on Thursday that mothers who smoke during pregnancy put their children at greater risk of developing psychotic symptoms as teenagers, Reuters reported.Studies carried out by four British universities looked at 6,356 12-year-olds -"“ of which around 19 percent had mothers who smoked during pregnancy -- and interviewed them for psychotic-like symptoms such as hallucinations or delusions.The researchers found that just over 11 percent, or 734 of the total group, had...

Marijuana should be listed worldwide as a possible risk factor in public health such as smoking or obesity, Australian researchers suggest. The research team, led by Louisa Degenhardt of the University of New South Wales in Sydney, says marijuana should be included along with smoking, high blood pressure, obesity and alcohol use in the high profile international research initiative known as the Global Burden of Disease Project. In the past, the project has not examined marijuana as a risk...