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Post by Edak Ekere on Feb 4, 2016 16:05:12 GMT -4
This is great work by Steven and Beth. Through their research, they have provided some sort of biological explanation for schizophrenia. It is interesting to know that excessive synaptic pruning controlled by the C4-A protein might be the reason for thinner prefrontal layers in schizophrenia, and probably the reason why the disorder usually manifests in teenagers and young adults. I also agree with the authors in regards to the risk of creating a drug that will slow the pruning process, as synaptic pruning is delicate and still poorly understood. Therefore, until more research is conducted and the process is better understood, it would be smart to hold off on any medication development. Research like this, will only eventually lead to better treatment for various psychiatric conditions.
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Post by Max Rosenberg on Feb 4, 2016 17:19:16 GMT -4
This is fascinating work and continues to build on the layered phenomena that contributes to such a disorder. I am really interested in how this synaptic pruning interacts with the rest of the potential areas that are tied to schizophrenia. One of the most interesting things I found from the article was the connection to the MHC locus and immune system regulation. It makes me wonder how much one's innate immmune system irregularity or predisposed disorders has on increasing odds for schizophrenia. Testing for the potential C4 protein loss in the serum may make diagnostic risk factors for schizophrenia and other related disorders more rapid and reliable potentially. This and combining with past gene based studies may pave a path to preventing the worst of schizophrenia in the future.
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Post by Stephen W Beckett on Feb 4, 2016 17:20:37 GMT -4
In the paper discussed in the article, the researchers theorize that the pruning mechanism of synaptic connections from adolescence into the third decade might be facilitated by the complement cascade involving microglia, the phagocytic immune cells of the CNS. I wonder if future pharmaceutical research in the area of treatment for schizophrenia might focus on treating the disease as a type of autoimmune disorder, with drugs designed specifically to target the overactivity of the microglia. Although one professor of psychiatry in the article cautions that we are a long ways off from improved treatments, it seems that this research is a huge breakthrough on the way to creating treatments that directly affect the pathogenesis of schizophrenia--instead of the current treatment modes with somewhat limited efficacy.
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Post by Sonia Varghese on Feb 4, 2016 17:59:17 GMT -4
The researchers mentioned in this article did a great job discovering new facts about schizophrenia that can help us better understand the disease as a whole. The discovery that caught my eye was that schizophrenia can possibly be an autoimmune disease. If we can establish this notion, then I truly believe we can have more support into the research and treatment of schizophrenia. Sadly, mental health is sometimes neglected when it comes to funding. There are many stigmas associated with schizophrenia patients, and I feel that if we an have a better understanding of the cause we can ensure better treatment for our patients. It is easy to get lost in the technicalities of the disease, but reading this article makes me realize more and more how devastating it must be for patients to go through this experience. It really is something that they can't control, regardless of how others may make them feel. I'm excited to see where this new research will take us in the field of mental health.
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Post by Melanie Samples on Feb 4, 2016 21:34:05 GMT -4
Schizophrenia is a common disorder that affects the lives of those diagnosed with the disease and their families. While this new development isn't the cure for the disease, it is definitely a building block in the right direction. Schizophrenia causes those affected to not function normally socially or occupationally. Like the article said, there are medications that help treat the symptoms but there is not one that currently cures the disease. This can be very disheartening for the patients which leave some not to taking the medications, some resistant to these medications, and others effected of the extensive side effects of the drugs. Even though excessive pruning and C4-A being present is not the whole cause for Schizophrenia, it gives researchers more insight into part of the cause which might help direct future research. Hopefully this finding leads to more research that will one day lead to a cure. Curing schizophrenia will give those affected a chance at a normal life and will release the burden placed on these individuals and their families.
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Post by Elvin Frempong on Feb 4, 2016 22:24:07 GMT -4
Schizophrenia is defined as a chronic mental disorder that can unfortunately inflict anyone, children, adolescents and adults alike. This disorder needs a minimum of at least 6 months to be accurately diagnosed and it involves disturbed behavior and thought pattern with a decline in functioning. This article has surfaced research associated with the cause of schizophrenia and proteins that may be implicated in its pathogenesis. The proteins however, c4-a and c4-B, are very similar in molecular structure thus making the implicated C4 - A protein very difficult to manufacture a drug that has the ability to alienate the C4-B protein. This is exciting research and hopefully that can not only change the landscape of what practitioners understand of schizophrenia but it can more importantly, change the lives of those affected by it.
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Post by Joel Romance on Feb 8, 2016 15:40:58 GMT -4
This has been the most interesting article to date for this rotation. The understanding of how schizophrenia can be tracked in adolescence is amazing and should be seen only as the tip of the iceberg. With this start of a so called "schizophrenic revolution", scientists now have a basis in which to further their research on this ever increasing topic. With so many people struggling with the disease, more funding and research should be paramount for the next generation. By being able to understand the disease process and then treat those problems, the idea of schizophrenia may one day be a distant memory. I hope that the research continues and more articles are published in order to give those with the disease a glimmer of hope.
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Post by brandonkrout on Feb 11, 2016 19:24:14 GMT -4
I'm glad that I was able to read this article. I did my internal medicine rotation in Washington state. The number of patients on medicaid/medicare for the practice I was in was 9% of the overall patient list. During my whole time there I only saw one schizophrenic patient. I did my family medicine rotation in Atlanta in a clinic with around 70% medicaid/medicare patients. I saw a schizophrenic patient about 4/5 days per week. I began to wonder why there seemed to be a higher prevalence of this disorder in the socioeconomic class that the majority of patients I saw. Finding a genetic as well as a socioeconomic link will definitely help develop a screening and risk analysis to potentially be able to limit the number of people with the disease.
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Post by May on Feb 12, 2016 1:00:29 GMT -4
Scientists Closer to Schizophrenia CauseThe process of gene to protein production seems simple untill we have to answer questions about the detail in the process. Each step is critical and equally important. Why and How? There are many diseases that are thought to be due to misfolding or mal functioning of protein which occurs from many factors affecting each step in gene encoding protein production. In most cases, there is no clear answer. In this article, imbalance of C4A and C4B protein somehow triggers what Beth Stevens calls "synaptic pruning" in the brain. It is basically thinning of brain mass which composed of functional brain cells thus distorts the normal function and balance of brain neurotransmitters. This results in malfunctioning of normal brain cells causing symptoms that we know as schizophrenia. Thanks to the researchers and their teams who continue researching the cause of the disease. One of these days, the mysterious of what is the cause and how it happens will be revealed.
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Post by camilo on Feb 17, 2016 21:13:01 GMT -4
This new discovery of the genetic reference of the etiology of Schizophrenia is a single step in the journey of a thousand miles, as the authors intimate in this article. The prospects of new treatments that more address the disease itself over and above just alleviating symptoms, as the classic treatments up to the present seem so limited by the lack of clear understanding of the etiology of the disease. It will be a great collective accomplishment by all stakeholders when that time comes when we can help our patients better with specific cures addressed to mapped out locations in the brain where this disease is located and treated efficiently. Now the door is opened ever so slowly and some light can shine for more understanding and better cures.
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