Important message for people with schizophrenia in this new study:
"The results suggest that substance use in schizophrenia is an independent risk factor for disease severity and onset."
Source:
B Kerner,
Psychiatry research , Feb 28 2015
Schizophrenia is a complex psychiatric disorder with a characteristic disease course and heterogeneous etiology. While substance use disorders and a family history of psychosis have individually been identified as risk factors for schizophrenia, it is less well understood if and how these factors are related. To address this deficiency, we examined the relationship between substance use disorders and family history of psychosis in a sample of 1219 unrelated patients with schizophrenia. The lifetime rate of substance use disorders in this sample was 50%, and 30% had a family history of psychosis. Latent class mixture modeling identified three distinct patient subgroups: (1) individuals with low probability of substance use disorders; (2) patients with drug and alcohol abuse, but no symptoms of dependence; and (3) patients with substance dependence. Substance use was related to being male, to a more severe disease course, and more acute symptoms at assessment, but not to an earlier age of onset of schizophrenia or a specific pattern of positive and negative symptoms. Furthermore, substance use in schizophrenia was not related to a family history of psychosis. The results suggest that substance use in schizophrenia is an independent risk factor for disease severity and onset.
4 Likes
This is good. My son had everything going for him in regard to SZ.
1 Like
Jayster
January 14, 2015, 10:13am
3
Gee. I had that car accident, too!
J.
yeah-that`s when the real trouble started…
Schizophrenia sounds lke brain damage to me.
Jayster
Could be in his case—cant get him to go for an MRI and EKG! He also said he didnt want to know.