Schizophrenia breakthrough: Scientists identify new suspect at 'scene of crime' for subgroup

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Professor John McGrath from University of Queensland said NeuRA had made a “convincing case” that inflammatory processes were involved in a subgroup of people with schizophrenia.

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They should help deal with negative and cognitive symptoms… oh lord…

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I wonder if I got this.

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“In a study published in Molecular Psychiatry, NeuRA researchers say they have identified a fourth player - the macrophage immune cell - in the brain tissue of people with “high inflammation” schizophrenia, a subgroup that accounted for 40 per cent of their overall sample.”

That’s a pretty significant subgroup. I haven’t read the study, so I don’t know how they selected their study group and if it’s likely to be similar to population averages.

Edit: it says of people with “high inflammation.” Don’t know how many people have this but it’s determined with a blood test.

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Thank you for posting @anon89143308 , great news!

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I can’t find the original study yet (it would probably be paywalled anyway) but I did find this:

Chronic low grade peripheral inflammation in ultra treatment resistant schizophrenia
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/29808267/

Found the original study

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41380-018-0235-x

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I gota cold so not feeling up to reading the paper, was there anything interesting in it that wasnt already pointed out?

It’s a neat discovery, but not anything that will lead to treatments in a few years. Inflammation, immune cells where they aren’t supposed to be in some people with schizophrenia - at least it’s a target, a potentially disease modifying one.

I did find this though. In this study, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/m/pubmed/28923068/
48% of the people with schizophrenia were in the high inflammation category. Not the same study, but has some of the same authors. If 40% of those had these rogue immune cells, that would translate to roughly 20% of people with schizophrenia. Assuming, of course, they looked at the same types of inflammation, and that it ends up being replicable in larger samples.

That could be 1 in 5 though. Pretty substantial.

Edit: they also found a lower percentage (9%) of the people with schizophrenia with low inflammation also had some of these errant macrophages.

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I’m trying ASHWAGANDHA to see if it will help me. My mom believes she has inflammation throughout her body and is on the Keto Diet. I consume a lot of sugar and she says that is a big culprit for inflammation.

This might explain why fish oil is great for prevention!

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http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2018-09-13/how-white-blood-cells-could-hold-key-understanding-schizophrenia/10237732?pfmredir=sm it was found in people with worse cognitive symptoms

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