Came across this short lecture on schizophrenia and the inflammation hypothesis. The author mentions three hypothesis for the causes of schizophrenia – elevated dopamine, glutamate receptor abnormalities, and inflammation. He also mentions the fact that autoimmune diseases can present with psychosis – lupus, Hashimoto’s encephalopathy, celiac disease, etc. It’s great to hear a professional acknowledging this fact, as not all doctors look into the link between psychiatric symptoms and autoimmune diseases.
Important notes from the lecture – some inflammation can be determined in a straightforward way by checking the C-reactive protein levels. Elevated levels of this substance increase the risk of schizophrenia onset. C-reactive protein levels are used to check for infection or chronic inflammatory disease, they also lead to increased risk of heart disease. It can be elevated due to a variety of diseases, such as obstructive sleep apnea, some viral infections, lupus, and rheumatoid arthritis.
In one study lumbar puncture was performed on a sample of patients with schizophrenia. 54% of the patients had self-directed antibodies in the cerebrospinal fluid (another piece of evidence to support the immune system disturbance hypothesis). What could the antibodies be targeting? Possibly neuronal proteins or neuronal receptor proteins.
Tag: schizophrenia treatment
Beautiful schizophrenia treatment success story
I found Quentin’s successful outcome in this story very hopeful. I don’t have schizophrenia, antipsychotics did not turn out to be useful for me, but it’s great to hear how they do work for many people with schizophrenia and how the outcomes can now be so different in comparison to the times before invention of antipsychotics. My psychosis has also mostly subsided since the treatment of encephalitis with intravenous steroids, prednisone, and intravenous immunoglobulin. I do have issues remaining with depression, but definitely the psychosis is maybe at the 5% level of what is used to be, and many times of the day no psychosis is currently present at all for me. Sometimes I even have thoughts – hey, maybe it wasn’t that bad, was I really that psychotic? Maybe I am exaggerating my story? But then I look back and yes, it was terrible, it was hell.
If you listen to Quentin’s story, I had actually very similar symptoms as he describes – I had persistent thoughts that my boyfriend and my parents were in danger and that only I had to protect them with my thoughts. Then also came the idea that me being anxious about their safety is increasing the danger, so they would be safer if I didn’t exist, because it was my thoughts that were putting them in danger. And these ideas were not occasional, they were persisting every second of the day. It’s easy to realize that it’s not possible to function or have any desire to live that way, especially if you are convinced that by being alive you are putting very close people to you in danger. I don’t really want to imagine what would happen to me if I didn’t figure out that I had encephalitis and wouldn’t get the immunosuppressant treatment, or what would happen to young people like Quentin before the invention of antipsychotics. I’m glad that his treatment story is a very positive one and that currently he is doing really well, studying for his engineering degree, doing an internship at a lab, and finding interest in life.
AFTER WINTER : A Real Life Schizophrenia Treatment Story
Notes of a Neuropsychiatry Amateur 