An Overview of Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease

How many of you have friends or family that suffer from a mental illness?" He followed this with a striking fact that 25% of all individuals will have a mental illness in their lifetime. In my opinion, one of the most important takeaways from this lecture is the fact that both of these terrible diseases are minimally understood and have unsatisfactory treatments. Psychologists diagnose these individuals subjectively, using the DSM-V as their checklist, which Dr. Stretton referred to as a "blunt instrument".

The only treatment he mentioned for schizophrenia was antipsychotics, which have been used since the 1950's.

They work to inhibit dopamine release in the brain to prevent positive symptoms like hallucinations, delusions, and disorganized behavior. However, the negative symptoms, like apathy, anhedonia, and alogia, remain untreated. Additionally, there are some irreversible side effects. Advancements in genetic testing may provide some hope for the future treatment of these diseases. Schizophrenia is influenced by genetics to some extent, given that a person has a near 50% chance of having schizophrenia if their identical twin does.

Get quality help now
writer-Charlotte
writer-Charlotte
checked Verified writer

Proficient in: Health

star star star star 4.7 (348)

“ Amazing as always, gave her a week to finish a big assignment and came through way ahead of time. ”

avatar avatar avatar
+84 relevant experts are online
Hire writer

It has also been studied that schizophrenia is a polygenic disorder, and these influencing genes have been narrowed down to some that affect dopamine type 2 receptors, glutamate transmission, immune function, and voltage-gated calcium channels. Alzheimer's is caused in part by plaques in the brain created by aggregation of A-beta proteins. By manipulating genes that control A-beta production, researchers could potentially reduce the incidence of Alzheimer's. Despite the obstacles that exist in terms of prevention and treatment of these illnesses, the current research serves as a foundation for future solutions.

Get to Know The Price Estimate For Your Paper
Topic
Number of pages
Email Invalid email

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy. We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

"You must agree to out terms of services and privacy policy"
Write my paper

You won’t be charged yet!

References

Updated: Dec 12, 2023
Cite this page

An Overview of Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease. (2022, Nov 07). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/an-overview-of-schizophrenia-and-alzheimer-s-disease-essay

An Overview of Schizophrenia and Alzheimer's Disease essay
Live chat  with support 24/7

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

get help with your assignment