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Post by S potla on Apr 20, 2016 16:26:37 GMT -4
An interesting article to read. Especially how genetics play a major role in behavioral disorders. And this article is the epitome of how lot indians even to this day they think by avoiding or not talking about the affected ones is a good idea so the problem can just go away. Lately, there's been a lot of studies on genetics and other behavioral disorders shows they run in the family. This article talks about the MHC segment and 2 class C4A AND C4B. I remember studying about Major Histocompatibility complex gene in Immunolgy class as it is expressed on surface on every cell and helps in identifying the self from nonself cells. which now makes sense, c4a and c4b are mainly in the brain and c4a is more abundant in schizo patients and affecting their cognitive. i see similarity between schizo and parkinson as they're very abundant at the synapses and when cells start to undergo cell division more than usual amount of gene is passed on next generation. In near future if they the affected are shut down or killed before the they're passed on to next generation, we can hope to see less affected individuals. love to do more research on this
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Post by BF on Apr 21, 2016 0:16:29 GMT -4
This is quite and informative and interesting article on schizophrenia, I empathized with the characters in the article and commend the research for the underlying cause of the disease. It is quite interesting to be able to put together an association between certain genes especially the C4A and schizophrenia. I was quite intrigued to learn that that the immune system has a part to play in the disease, it just goes to show how formidable that part of the human body/system is. I think one of the important part of the article to me is learning that though 'over pruning' of the synapses in the brain is a major contributing factor to the development of schizophrenia, 'under pruning' of the synapses may be a concern in the event of discovering treatments that can stop the progression of the disease. In that case, the normal neuronal development may be affected hence cognitive function, planning and thinking will also be affected. This goes to show that a balance is indeed required. Notwithstanding, a treatment that stops or slows the progression of the disease will be of great help, I believe it will open doors to research of producing models that offer the best outcome possible.
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Post by Dennis A on Apr 21, 2016 1:25:55 GMT -4
It was quite interesting to read the authors experience with mental illness in a culture that severely frowns upon anything that is different. The article dives into the science of Schizophrenia and all the research that has been done about the illness. The strides that researchers have made over the years, discovering the genetic component of the disease and it's possible comorbid associations. That aspect of the article wasn't nearly as interesting as author retelling his his family battles with Schizophrenia. As a first generation North American and my family being from a country that looks down on those that are different, I can only imagine how difficult it was for the author to watch his father struggle to deal with his own brothers and being helpless to their failing minds. With the advancements that they've made with mental illness research, many of them highlighted in this article, with that I hope comes more education. I look forward to a time when citizens around the world are properly educated about mental illness and those with it get the proper treatment. There will come a time when the brother from the article won't be forced to live his life in solitude, cared for by only his grandmother for fear of what others will think. I look forward to a time when he would have been properly treated and a productive member of society.
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Post by E.G.N on Apr 21, 2016 8:29:53 GMT -4
Its very enlightening to see how mental diseases and genetics are related, which simply shows that the vast majority of pathology in the human body has a genetic component to it. This article also shows the potential of what the future of medicine could become in terms of establishing a known diagnosis, Find the gene causing or is related to the disease and finding a medication that is targeted to the gene in question. As for Schizophrenia, with the findings in this article, treatment will be tailored towards an immunological therapy that targets the C4A gene so as to stop the pruning of the neurons found in the area of the brain responsible for cognition, planning and thinking.
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Post by Phelipe Hurt on Apr 21, 2016 10:18:02 GMT -4
I really enjoyed reading and learning new insights about schizophrenia. Mental illness is such a paradox and I find it fascinating that an increased expression of Complement 4 (C4A), which causes excessive "pruning" of connections between neurons in the brain, has been found to be associated with schizophrenia. The author of this article did a great job expressing how schizophrenia effects everyone (family, work, friends) and those effected with the disease aren't getting adequate treatment. Most are either sent away to be "locked up" or left to die. I found it interesting that there hasn't been any huge progress in understanding Schizophrenia since this article was published, and hopefully this discovery will unlock better treatments and eventually a cure.
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Post by Michelle Parisi on Apr 21, 2016 10:58:05 GMT -4
The author was able to tie the scientific data pertaining to schizophrenia to his families personal experience with the disease culminating in a touching and beautifully written article. Given the relatively new information presented in the article one would hope that new treatment modalities will be available in the near future. Nevertheless the fact remains that an identical twin only has a 50% chance of developing schizophrenia when their twin has the disease. These twins will clearly have the same MHC regions on their genes but not mentioned in the article and what would be interesting to know is whether C4 expression and synaptic patterns are similar in identical twins where one twin does have schizophrenia and the other does not have schizophrenia.
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Post by Cecilia Frett on Apr 21, 2016 11:27:33 GMT -4
This article was very interesting to read. The discovery of the C4A gene and microglial components to Schizophrenia is crucial to formulating better treatment options for patients and families. Although mental health is often underserved, this will open many avenues for precisely determining inheritance of the trait, preventing disease, slowing disease progression and treating the illness. Honestly, it is an excellent opportunity for pharmaceutical companies to make marked advancements in mental health. This article also shows the importance of family dynamics and accepting/supporting relatives with Schizophrenia. The combination of medical discoveries/treatment and family support is key to making future treatment regimens more successful than prior regimens.
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LaTanya McLeary (LM)
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Post by LaTanya McLeary (LM) on Apr 21, 2016 14:37:20 GMT -4
I found this article fascinating. I previously worked as a research assistant on a schizophrenia research project at a major hospital in the Midwest. I often assessed patients suspected to have schizophrenia and unfortunately many of them were unable to provide substantial family history. Some of them were able to provide details of family members who had suffered from schizophrenia or other psychotic disorder. I find the genetic links in mental illness to be very interesting. A similar phenomenon can be seen with Autism spectrum disorders. I do wonder what the future holds as science and medicine continues to learn more about the genetic roots of these strong familial links of mental illness.
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Post by AA on Apr 21, 2016 15:30:21 GMT -4
The article made an interesting read and it was the first time I was coming across the genetic aspect of schizophrenia and also the association with C4A gene. The good thing about this is that it is now possible to predict whether an individual is prone to having schizophrenia at a later stage of his life. My issue has to do with insurance coverage and the probability of such individuals been employed or stay employed at their place of work and also the ethics of genetic testing of such individuals before getting employed. Another issue is based on those of the offsprings of such affected individuals, how fair it is having children when the possibility of coming down with the disease is high later in life. An unfortunate aspect of the discovery is the fact that a protective mechanism in human body is actually responsible for causing such debilitating disease later in life, I guess the body is not going to be a perfect entity forever.
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Eduardo Serrano MS-3 Dr.Antin
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Post by Eduardo Serrano MS-3 Dr.Antin on Apr 21, 2016 15:31:33 GMT -4
This article depicts the struggle many people have with accepting mental illness. Often because they do not understand it and fear it happening to them. "Losing one's mind" is a very frightful thought. I have spoken to many patients who have admitted they fear more coming down with a mental illness more so than a medical illness like diabetes or hypertension for the mere fact that depending on someone else for their care and not being lucid is terrifying to them. In this article the genetic sequence of the C4A gene was found in close proximity if not in the same area of our dna that regulates our immune system. This is fascinating to me. The thought that the same system that defends us against invading pathogens will also cause mental illness if gone array. It makes me wonder how many more diseases are related to an over active immune system and what causes our immune system to become overactive in the first place. As the articles suggest, the excess of C4A gene may be removing too much of the synapses in the brain causing many of the cognitive and symptoms of schizophrenia. It did not state how it may cause bipolar disorder or I guess one is to assume the same process does. A very good read.
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Post by AF on Apr 21, 2016 15:52:39 GMT -4
Interesting and informative article. The importance of genetics in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia cannot be ignored and emphasis must be placed as regards understanding the life time effect of the disease in individuals at risk of having the disease. It is of importance to know that various research has been conducted but the main underlying cause of the disease remain untreated. However, the research on the disease has improved tremendously over the years and the prognosis of the disease looks promising.
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Post by Korie Griffith on Apr 21, 2016 16:49:04 GMT -4
I think the most interesting part of this article is how the grandmother was able to control the brother. I can see it play out in my head like a movie. The brother who acts a little strange and the siblings always asking each other "what is wrong with that boy." Then the grandmother comes through and is able to to bring the strange one back down to reality. Grandmother was able to tame his fears and fantasies just by holding him with her hand on his forehead. Then later on she turns into a tiger, and stops the beating of Jagu by his brother. That is amazing.
I remember seeing the patients with schizophrenia during my inpatient time. It was like the man wrote in the article. Something was missing from their eyes. You could see the disconnect from the world in their eyes. A lot of the patients also had family history of mental illness as well. A mother or an uncle who had some form of mental illness. So this article just validated a lot of things I was thinking while I've been here. This article was informative and entertaining.
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Post by Shohana Ahmed on Apr 21, 2016 16:53:05 GMT -4
The article “Runs in the Family” is definitely an interesting read that not only ties mental disorders to a genetic component but also allows the reader to understand mental illness from a different cultural perspective. To this day in many South Asian countries mental disorders are not real and any irregular behavior that is witnessed in an individual is usually associated to supernatural causes such as being possessed by demons and what not. Rather than seeking medical care, members of the family will take the “possessed” to priests and Imams to ward off the evil beings that haunt their souls. Unfortunately no good prognosis is seen because they refuse to believe it is an entity of the individuals mind and not an outside force. Whether it be a psychiatric disorder or in their views “evil spirits,” the families hide such issues from society, as it is shameful and can bring disgrace upon the family. Being Bengali myself, I see how many Bengali, Pakistani, Indian communities reacts to topics of schizophrenia, bipolar, ADD, OCD, etc, and it amazes me that they refuse to believe mental disorders exist. They will make comments like “ he just needs a good beating and he will be okay,” without realizing that these issues cause so much grief to the individual who suffers from it and their family. In Bangladesh, a group of medical students from the U.S. have teamed up with a hospitals in the city of Dhaka to spread awareness of mental health illness and their severity and to encourage the citizens to seek help from psychiatrists.
The other topic of discussion that I found was helpful especially for us medical students is the link between schizophrenia and genetics. It appears years of research has linked increased levels of C4 gene in those who suffer from schizophrenia leading to decrease the number of synapses in the brain. This break through could guide scientists on developing better medications to treat the illness. This breakthrough can also allow for preventative medications. The article also demonstrates the nature of schizophrenia being passed down to offspring and I can see in the next few years how genetic testing for pregnant women will also expand to early detection of mental disorders. I am definitely interested in seeing how far this development will go and what different branches of medicine are doing to incorporate these findings.
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Post by Monica Grimaldo on Apr 21, 2016 21:24:50 GMT -4
Thank you for sharing this interesting article about one’s family struggle and research of Schizophrenia. Not only did this article provide a closer look at what it may be like to be from a family with multiple mental illnesses, but it also provides some evidence-based theories about Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. With the author being from a culturally close-knit family and in the field of medicine, I can understand the source of desire for his ongoing investigations about the onset of these particular diseases. It was interesting to read about the many genes suspected to be involved in Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder. If one is born with the “recipe” of those specific genes, life stressors need to also be added in order to trigger an eruption of symptoms. Furthermore, the role that was uncovered that C4 of the immune system plays on expressing Schizophrenia was even more fascinating. The increased levels of C4 found in patients suffering from Schizophrenia, was linked to decrease synapses in the brain. This groundbreaking piece of evidence can lead to medical advancements as it can be used to guide the direction of treatment available for Schizophrenia.
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Post by arjunkundra on Apr 22, 2016 13:58:34 GMT -4
Interestingly enough, Moni was diagnosed with Schizophrenia at age 40, which is a disease that is most commonly diagnosed between 15-45. In this range, men typically present younger, at around age 20, and the course of the disease is more severe in men. It is clear that his family has a genetic predisposition, an important statistic relevant to the article is a 12% risk for schizophrenia if one first-degree relative is affected.
One thing that can become an issue with psychiatric illness is the family being unable to appreciate and accept the diagnosis as they would a medically visible illness as in the story described within this article. It was interesting that a particular gene, C4A, was found to be more abundant in brains of schizophrenic patients allowing for a quantitative result showing a direct link. It will be interesting to see how further research will develop around this gene and possible prevention or treatment of schizophrenia.
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