Explain The Etiological Models Of Schizophrenia Essay

Likewise we can not say for sure that a Schizoprenogenic mother isn’t the result of having a schizophrenic child and not the cause of schizophrenia in the child. Both the psychological and biological explanation of schizophrenia are criticised for being too simplistic an explanation of the causes of schizophrenia. However, both theories are not rigid in their views and most scientists believe that is a complex interaction between biological and environmental factors which determine the development of schizophrenia. Although most supporters of the genetic explanation believe that there is a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and therefore accept other psychological and environmental factors.

The biological explanation of schizophrenia also claims that the disorder can be inherited. The more common the disorder is among the biological relatives and the closer the degree of genetic relatedness increases the risk of the child developing schizophrenia. Gottesman’s research (1991) found a genetic link with schizophrenia when looking at children and their relatives. The research discovered that children with two schizophrenic parents have a concordance rate of 46% compared to children who just have one schizophrenic parent to children who have a concordance rate of 13% and siblings just 9%. The genetic theory of schizophrenia also suggests that monozygotic twins (twins who a genetically identical) should have a higher concordance rate of schizophrenia than dizygotic twins (twins who are not genetically identical) because they have a closer degree of genetic relatedness.

Those that are recognized increase the possibility only by extremely small quantities. Consequently, these “genome scans” are improbable to offer a whole image of a person’s danger for acquiring a mental disorder like schizophrenia. Additionally, it possibly endures more than genes to instigate the disorder (Stefansson, Ophoff, Steinberg, Andreassen, Cichon, Rujescu, & Kahn, 2009). Experts reflect communications amongst genes and the environment are essential for schizophrenia to grow. Several environmental issues might be comprised, such as revelation to viruses or malnourishment before birth, difficulties during birth, and other not yet recognized psychosocial issues.

Genetics play a role in the development of schizophrenia. When looking closer at the brain chemistry between a person with schizophrenia and a person with out schizophrenia there are

There was a large difference in the incidence of schizophrenia when they were adults between the two groups. The group with schizophrenic mothers were found to have a 10.3% chance of being schizophrenic and the group with non-schizophrenic mothers were found to have only a 1.1% chance of being schizophrenic.

While there is no cure for schizophrenia, research is leading to new, safer treatments. Experts also are unraveling the causes of the disease by studying genetics, conducting behavioral research, and by using advanced imaging to look at the brain’s structure and function. These novel approaches hold the promise of new, more effective therapies.

It has been long understood that schizophrenia runs in families. People who have a close rela-tive with schizophrenia are more likely to develop the disorder than are people who have no relatives with the illness. A child whose parent has schizophrenia has about a 10 percent chance of developing schizophrenia themselves. Identical twins carry the same genes. In iden-tical twins, if one twin develops schizophrenia, the other twin has one in two chance of de-veloping it too even if they are raised separately. People who have second degree relative,

Biological theorists believe that individuals may have a genetic predisposition for the schizophrenia if a close family member has been diagnosed with the disorder. Stress during adolescent years seems to provoke the disorder among individuals who have a family history of the disorder. In addition, this theory suggests biochemical abnormalities related to the dopamine neurotransmitters may also contribute to the illness as the brains neurotransmission of the dopamine is too frequent in occurrence (Comer, 2005). CAT and MRI scans have also indicated that abnormal brain structuring may also play a role in the development of schizophrenia due to a common occurrence of enlarged ventricles within schizophrenia sufferers (Comer, 2005). Various parts of the brain may not develop for function properly which seems lead to Type II schizophrenia. Studies have also pointed towards the idea that exposure to certain viruses before birth may lead to the eventual development of schizophrenia (Comer, 2005).

The direct genetic loci accounting for schizophrenia’s heritability is still unidentified. The mental illness affects approximately 3.5million Americans and 1 percent of the worldwide population today. The variable related to the disease is so widely ranged that literally anyone can have some form of potential risk. Compared to other mental disorders, schizophrenia is unique to having a combination of many different environmental, genetic, and biological factors. The exact cause of the disease is still unknown, but studies such as biometric and molecular screenings have proved genetic and biological factors, combined with environmental factors, is strongly connected to the etiology of the disease. Although schizophrenia is more commonly manifested during young adulthood, scientists believes, a variety of pre-birth factors are linked to the development of the disease. There are several prenatal factors that have a higher relative risk to the progression of schizophrenia as recorded by scientists. Although not proven, studies suggests time of birth, place of birth, infections during pregnancy, stress, malnourishment, and rh incompatibility are increased risk factors that shed light on possible causations of schizophrenia. Many studies are indefinite due to the latency, methodology, and of the disease, more research need to be established.

2. A strong family history of mental disorders is considered as a highly probable cause of schizophrenia, while those who are much less genetically vulnerable are believed to catch the disorder through environment stressors during their lives.

For ethical reasons all our results and conclusions will be based on statistics without revealing who among those we tested is affected or not affected to the public. From the adoption study we expect Schizophrenia to be more in biological relatives of schizophrenic adoptees than in those of control adoptees. It will also be of great interest to us to observe if the risk of the adopted away children to develop Schizophrenia increases if both genetic parents are schizophrenics compared to if only one of the genetic parents is schizophrenic. Some of the genes may appear to be associated with the disorder in some ethnic groups and not in others, which would make it difficult to for us to say that a specific gene is associated with Schizophrenia in general population. This may be because predisposition for Schizophrenia is created by different combination and/or of genes in different populations interacting with certain environmental factors. As association studies always follow linkage studies which identify possible genomic regions or even specific candidate genes which contribute to the development of a genetically influenced disorder. Results from linkage studies depend on a variety of factors, including the presumption of the mode of inheritance, the involvement of genes whose effects are large enough to detect and the extent to which family members are diagnosed accurately as either affected or unaffected with a disorder in the schizophrenia spectrum. Since all of these factors are problematic, it is will not be suprising that results from linkage studies are less conclusive and have yet to identify genes that major effects to the development of

Schizophrenia can be passed down thru generations even though there is not a specific gene associated with the disorder. It is considered to be a combination of genes that make a person susceptible to becoming schizophrenic. This information is found mainly thought the study of twins. By having the same genes it can be viewed why genes contribute to the potential of schizophrenia. Even though genetics is a viable factor in the analysis of the cause of schizophrenia there are more supporting factors found in neurotransmitters.

One out of ten children of a schizophrenic parent will develop schizophrenia. The risk of 10% is greater then frequency of schizophrenia in the general population which is about 1% which would mean that schizophrenia is more likely to develop is some families than others most children of schizophrenic parents are completely normal. The most interesting investigation that is still going on that remains a mystery of schizophrenia is that genes alone do not explain who gets ill. Example of this is twins as all there genes are in common but if one of the identical twins has schizophrenia the other twin has the highest risk of developing schizophrenia. About 40% of twins of a schizophrenic live completely normal lives without disease.

Conclusions / Results: Conclusions suggest that the nature vs nurture dichotomy may not be as relevant as looking at the interaction between these two forces. It was discovered that while one’s genetic heritage creates a predisposition towards schizophrenia, other factors such as the home environment, the parental environment, dietary factors and others may determine whether the disease is manifested.

According to American Psychiatric (2000), schizophrenia is a major psychiatric disorder, or cluster of disorders, characterized by hallucination and delusions as the most psychotic symptoms which ultimately alter a victim’s perception, thoughts, and behavior. It is a severe and chronic brain disorder that makes it difficult for the victim to think clearly, have normal responses to emotions and act normal in a social setting. The main risk factor is genetics based on studies of high incidence of certain families. Additionally, the existing data propose that neurodevelopmental and environmental elements such