There are many types of illnesses that a person can have with some of these being mental illnesses. One prominent mental illness the public should learn more about is Schizophrenia. The public should learn more about Schizophrenia because it is a very detrimental disease to not only the person who has it, but to the person’s family as well.
According to a scientific study on Schizophrenia, schizophrenia is said to be a very common and chronic psychiatric disorder and is one of the leading causes of disabilities in the world [1]. As of right now, there is no known specific cause of Schizophrenia, but the symptoms can show in a period between late adolescence and early adulthood. According to the MayoClinic, symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, disorganized speech, and abnormal motor behavior can cause problems in a person’s cognitive thinking, behavior, and emotions [2]. This shows that Schizophrenia, if left untreated, can affect a person’s way of life in an extremely detrimental way.
While the exact cause of Schizophrenia remains unknown, a pathway that is linked to developing Schizophrenia involves the use of a Wnt receptor and GSK3. Wnt signal pathways lead to Dvl-mediated cellular increase causing activation of APC [1]. With this, APC can cause production of GSK-3β, which inhibits production of β-catenin [1]. It is the activity of GSK-3β that potentially causes schizophrenia to develop. These characteristics present can make the Wnt signaling a target of drug treatment. Since there is no cure for Schizophrenia, there are treatments. A common treatment for Schizophrenia is the use of Lithium, which is mainly used for Bipolar Disorder [1]. The way this treatment works is that lithium directly inhibits the GSK3β activity by acting as a competitive inhibitor with magnesium, leading to accumulation of β-catenin [1]. This can lead to a person with schizophrenia having their mood stabilized. The Wnt pathway and Lithium treatment is shown on the figure below.
Along with factors that treat Schizophrenic patients, there are other factors that increase the risk of developing it. For example, infections with agents of influenza, rubella virus, herpes, and poliovirus have been known to increase the risk of developing schizophrenia [3]. This means that Schizophrenia may be linked to weak immune systems when the person is ill. These symptoms can also cause the person to not function normally like everyone else. For example, people with Schizophrenia may neglect personal hygiene, avoid eye contact, have a lack of motivation, depressed moods, and may appear to be emotionless [2]. Because of this, people with Schizophrenia would most likely need to be cared for and watched over if they have other disabilities. It was also discovered that infections of different viruses have not only affected the mother during pregnancies, but have also been known to increase the risk of the fetus developing schizophrenia in the future [3].
From the studies on Schizophrenia, it is clear that it is a very detrimental disease that can affect the person and those close to them. I believe that having the public be able to understand what this disease is can be very helpful. This is so they can have an understanding of what families can go through when one of their own is diagnosed with Schizophrenia.
