Signs of schizophrenia appear in infancy

UNC-CHAPEL HILL (US)—Researchers have provided the first evidence that brain abnormalities associated with the risk of schizophrenia can be detected in babies only a few weeks old.

Schizophrenia is a debilitating mental disorder affecting one in 100 people worldwide. Most cases aren’t detected until a person starts experiencing symptoms like delusions and hallucinations as a teenager or adult. By that time, the disease has often progressed so far that it can be difficult to treat.

“It allows us to start thinking about how we can identify kids at risk for schizophrenia very early and whether there are things that we can do very early on to lessen the risk,” says lead study author John H. Gilmore, professor of psychiatry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and director of the UNC Schizophrenia Research Center.

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http://www.futurity.org/health-medicine/signs-of-schizophrenia-appear-in-infancy/

Medical Problems in Schizophrenia Can Be Prevented

Although at high risk for medical problems, individuals with schizophreniaare not destined to suffer from poor health.

Recent research shows that there are many opportunities to intervene and provide good preventative health care for people with schizophrenia.

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http://psychcentral.com/news/2010/07/26/medical-problems-in-schizophrenia-can-be-prevented/16004.html

With More Than 500,000 Ontarians Impacted by Schizophrenia, New Initiative Makes Urgent Call For Support and an End to Discrimination

TORONTO, June 23 /CNW/ - More than half a million people in Ontario are either living with schizophrenia or are directly impacted by someone close to them who is suffering from the disease. Today, The Schizophrenia Society of Ontario (SSO) is launching Peace of Minds, its most forceful campaign ever to raise awareness about schizophrenia and to generate support for vital programs to help those impacted by this crushing mental disease. "After struggling for decades to end the stigma and misinformation about this disease, we decided it was time to reveal the dramatic impact of schizophrenia on our entire community," says Mary Alberti, CEO of the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario.

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http://www.cleonet.ca/instance_news.php?instance_id=1535

Marijuana can send a brain to pot Drug use can trigger psychosis in vulnerable people, experts say

At age 17, sitting in the basement with friends smoking pot, Don Corbeil first noticed all the cameras spying on him. Then he became convinced a radioactive chip had been planted in his head. “I thought I was being monitored like a lab rat,” he explains.

It never occurred to him that marijuana could be messing with his brain. Corbeil had been smoking pot since he was 14, a habit that escalated to about 10 joints a day.

He started hearing voices and, at one point, Corbeil thought he was the Messiah. Police found him one day talking incoherently, and brought him to hospital, where he was eventually diagnosed with drug-induced psychosis.

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http://www.thestar.com/article/833824--marijuana-can-send-a-brain-to-pot