How Does Schizophrenia Affect the Body?
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Chronic Health Disorders
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Research has shown that people with schizophrenia are more prone to developing Type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular and pulmonary disease and other chronic health problems than is the general population. One study, for instance, published in a 2006 issue of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, found that people with schizophrenia were more likely than those without mental illness to have a greater number of health conditions. A total of 71 percent of people treated for schizophrenia had at least one chronic physical illness, while only 46 percent of those in the control group did.
Abnormal Proteins
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A key to the development of other diseases in schizophrenics may have been found in a study published in the January 2007 issue of the American Chemical Society's Journal of Proteome Research. In this study, researchers discovered abnormal proteins not only in the brains of schizophrenics, but in their liver and red blood cells also. It was the first time the same altered proteins had been found in both brain and non-brain tissue. Several of these proteins may contribute to oxidative stress and interrupt energy metabolism. Schizophrenic brains may have difficulty producing or using energy, and be more vulnerable to cell-damaging free radicals. These problems could be occurring elsewhere in the body as well.
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Type 2 Diabetes
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People with schizophrenia not only develop Type 2 diabetes at higher rates than the general population, they appear to be at risk for the disease by the time their mental disorder is diagnosed. The Medical College of Georgia conducted a study of 50 people newly-diagnosed with schizophrenia or a related psychotic disorder, before treatment had begun. These people also had no other known risk factors for diabetes. A total of 16 percent either had diabetes or abnormal glucose metabolism. In a similarly-sized control group, none had signs of diabetes.
Cardiovascular Issues
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Although some of the most effective schizophrenic drugs cause rapid weight gain, people in the Georgia study had not yet begun taking any of these drugs. Additionally, data from the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness Schizophrenia Trial showed a high occurrence of metabolic syndrome in schizophrenic patients. Metabolic syndrome has risk factors including abdominal obesity, high cholesterol levels and insulin resistance. Also, according to research presented at the 2009 American Psychiatric Association annual meeting, people with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders were reported as more likely than the general public to develop cardiovascular disease in the years before antipsychotic medication was available.
Sensory Abnormalities
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Additionally, people with schizophrenia tend to have a distorted sensation of taste, as well as olfactory deficits including a low odor detection threshold and problems identifying odors. An article published in a 2003 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry said that the brain's olfactory bulb (smell center) is smaller not only in people with schizophrenia, but in their first-degree relatives as well. The structural abnormalities of the bulb, however, were on the left side for schizophrenic patients and on the right side for their relatives.
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