I read an article on medical news today. In the article, researchers believe that more than genetics play a role as far as mental illness is concerned. It is believed that genetics, plus the environment a fetus is surrounded by in the womb is what cause mental illness. Mice that were born with a gene that is often found to be associated with Schizophrenia, were actually born will what seemed like depressive or anxious mental states. It is believed that these mice were subjected to viruses that infecting their mothers before they were born. Scientists performed an experiment where they bred mice with a human form of the gene mhDISC1 which they believe is a gene responsible for Schizophrenia. Half of the mothers were injected with a drug that would stimulate the immune system to make it think that they were infected with a virus and half of the mothers were left to breed without it. The mice born to the mothers with the immune-stimulating drug developed anxious and/or depressive behavior.
This is interesting because it will help scientist research mental illness better. It may help them come up with a viable treatment or may help them figure out a way to prevent mental illness from expressing itself.
I found this article very interesting. I though it was only genetically determined if you had schizophrenia. I believe more studies need to be done , but they should start informing soon to be mothers about this.
ReplyDeleteThis research can hopefully lead to successful ways in treating mental illnesses. A have an uncle with Schizophrenia, and it's intresting to see the possible causes for this illness. With a further understanding of the gene mhDISC1, researchers will hopefully be able to find ways to prevent the expression of Schizophrenia and other mental illnesses.
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