What causes schizophrenia?
No single cause has been identified. Scientists have found that some people with schizophrenia have abnormalities in the structure of their brain, while others have an imbalance (too many or too few) of the chemicals that transmit messages in the brain. These chemicals, called neurotransmitters, are thought to affect your emotions, motivation, movement, mood, sleep, and appetite. Whatever the cause, it is important to understand that it is not your fault. It is not the result of poor parenting or weak willpower.
It is thought that schizophrenia is a genetic illness. It runs in families. 1% of the population suffers from schizophrenia. If you have a mother or father who suffers from it, you have a 10% chance of suffering from it. If you have an identical twin with it, you have a 50% chance of becoming schizophrenic. The closer you are genetically to an individual with schizophrenia, the greater your chances of suffering from it as well.
Although a great deal is known about its biology, the causes of schizophrenia have not yet fully been elucidated. Through twin and adoption studies, we know that there is an inherited genetic component. We also know that environmental stress, particularly during the mother’s second trimester of pregnancy, plays an important role in the development of schizophrenia in the offspring. Finally, we know that use of stimulant drugs, such as amphetamines, cocaine or PCP (angel dust), can trigger episodes of illness.
There is no known single cause of schizophrenia. Many diseases, such as heart disease, result from an interplay of genetic, behavioral, and other factors; and this may be the case for schizophrenia as well. Scientists do not yet understand all of the factors necessary to produce schizophrenia, but all the tools of modern biomedical research are being used to search for genes, critical moments in brain development, and other factors that may lead to the illness. Is Schizophrenia Inherited? It has long been known that schizophrenia runs in families. People who have a close relative with schizophrenia are more likely to develop the disorder than are people who have no relatives with the illness. For example, a monozygotic (identical) twin of a person with schizophrenia has the highest risk 40 to 50 percent of developing the illness. A child whose parent has schizophrenia has about a 10 percent chance. By comparison, the risk of schizophrenia in the general population is about 1 percent. S
Schizophrenia is a complex illness, and no single cause has been found. There are several theories about the causes, which include: • Heredity. Schizophrenia runs in some families. A person can inherit a tendency to develop the illness, especially if a parent has the disorder. The risk for inheriting schizophrenia is 10 percent in those who have an immediate family member with the illness, and 40 percent if the illness affect both parents or an identical twin. However, about 60 percent of people with schizophrenia have no close relatives with the illness • Brain chemistry. Many researchers believe that people with schizophrenia are either very sensitive to a brain chemical called dopamine, or produce too much of it. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, which are substances that allow nerve cells in the brain to send messages to each other. An imbalance of this chemical can affect the way a person’s brain reacts to stimuli. • An abnormality within the brain. Better imaging technology has all
