Researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine have published a new study in Molecular Psychiatry that offers a pretty simple blood test to predict both the likelihood of developing schizophrenia and current severity in those afflicted with it.
What a feat.
Using ten years worth of data, the scientists found key biomarkers associated with hallucinations (PPP3CB, DLG1, ENPP2, ZEB2, and RTN4,and delusions (AUTS2, MACROD2, NR4A2, PDE4D, PDP1, and RORA).
They also found the key biological pathways, as well.
Now here’s a clutch part.
Armed with this knowledge, scientists were able to “flip the system and accurately predict schizophrenia states and future risks from blood tests.”
That’s huge.
The early stages of schizophrenia are often undetectable, yet the damage is cumulative, so the earlier the diagnosis and beginning of treatment, the better.
Now doctors will be able to use a blood test to check for these biomarkers and go from there.
It’s a remarkably important development.
And here’s where it gets even more significant.
David Nield, for Science Alert: “Some of the biomarkers highlighted by the researchers are already being targeted by drugs prescribed for other conditions, which could potentially speed up their development in relation to schizophrenia.
“Fortunately, biologically some of the existing medications work quite well if initiated early in the right patients,” says [Neuroscientist Alexander] Niculescu. “Social support is also paramount, and once that and medications are in place, psychological support and therapy can help as well.”
In other words, not only does this study offer the promise of diagnosing earlier, but it also points in the direction (already!) of what might be the most effective early treatment.
Those are two giant steps.
Now, I want to mention something.
If you want to read just how unsettling and difficult hallucinations and delusions can be, click on this piece by Hannah Owens, a mental health professional who talks about her own hallucinations and delusions.
Also, here’s a good medical journal overview on schizophrenia, a simpler guide from the Cleveland Clinic, and from WebMd, types of therapies and medication.
[Photo: Via the public domain, thanks to the NIMH, that is a map of the deficits in neural tissue in a patient with schizophrenia].
