Prevention is the best medicine. However, how can you prevent something when you are not sure how or why it happens? Schizophrenia is an especially debilitating disease that affects one percent of the world's population. Although this is a small number, the disease is very serious and has no cure. There are treatments for schizophrenia, but it is hard to control. Being able to prevent the disease would be ideal, but is that actually possible?
Schizophrenia is a baffling disease, but there are some aspects that are understood by doctors and scientists. The disease usually first manifests itself in a person's late teens or early twenties. Often it is triggered by what is termed, "the first break up". This occurs when a person leaves their parents' home and begins their own lives. This is an especially traumatic time for everyone, but even more so for others. The symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, hearing voices, and holding delusional beliefs. Most people who have schizophrenia suffer intense social isolation.
The general public only has about a one percent chance of getting schizophrenia. If you have a family member with the disease, your chances increase to five percent if you have a sibling with the disease and ten percent if you have a parent with schizophrenia. The more closely you are related the higher the chance of getting the disease. Identical twins have the highest correlation with a fifty-fifty chance of developing the disease if their twin suffers from it. Genes play an important role in determining who will get schizophrenia, but it is only a part of the picture.
It is widely known that a person's genes play a key part in determining whether they will develop schizophrenia. However, it appears that it is a combination of environmental factors and genetic factors that is the cause of schizophrenia. Most people who develop the disease do not have a close relative with schizophrenia. Using the example of the twins, if there is only a fifty percent chance that the other twin will develop the disease, obviously environmental factors are very important. Unfortunately, there is no one answer for preventing schizophrenia. However, there are many things doctors and scientists believe that can be done to help deal with the chances of getting schizophrenia.
If you are considering having a child in the near future, there are important steps you should take to minimize your child's chance of getting schizophrenia. First, be sure you are ready to have a child. The way you treat the child depends greatly on whether you are ready to be pregnant and want to have children. Also, begin taking your prenatal vitamins one to three months before trying to conceive. Be sure to avoid all lead and alcohol exposure during your pregnancy and also if you are breast feeding. Possibly the most important is to minimize your stress level. Everyone suffers from stress sometimes, but it is how you deal with it that determines its impact.
If you already have a child, there are other actions you can take to help minimize their chance of developing schizophrenia. During the first year of life, be sure to hold your baby as often as you can. It is important for the baby to experience at least four hours of human touch a day. Also, as with adults, try to limit your child's exposure to stress. Try to teach your child a positive outlook on life. Finally, although this is sometimes impossible to do, minimize the risk of traumatic events in a child's life. Childhood trauma is believed to be a precursor to mental illness.
For a teenager, there are many suggestions of ways to protect against the development of schizophrenia. First is to avoid any and all street drugs. Illicit drugs cause marked changes in the brain. Probably the most important suggestion is to avoid social isolation and to develop good social skills. We all know how stressful and difficult adolescence can be, but it is even more so for some people. Be sure your teenager has a good set of friends and seems to be doing well socially. If not, do not hesitate to seek assistance from a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist.
A new prevention tool used by some doctors is to give low doses of anti-psychotic medications to those believed to have early symptoms of schizophrenia. This has shown to be beneficial to many patients, but there are numerous serious side effects to consider. As more and more research is done, an answer will be found to unlocking the secrets of this disease. Hopefully someday we will all know the answer to how to prevent schizophrenia.
Schizophrenia is a baffling disease, but there are some aspects that are understood by doctors and scientists. The disease usually first manifests itself in a person's late teens or early twenties. Often it is triggered by what is termed, "the first break up". This occurs when a person leaves their parents' home and begins their own lives. This is an especially traumatic time for everyone, but even more so for others. The symptoms of schizophrenia include hallucinations, hearing voices, and holding delusional beliefs. Most people who have schizophrenia suffer intense social isolation.
The general public only has about a one percent chance of getting schizophrenia. If you have a family member with the disease, your chances increase to five percent if you have a sibling with the disease and ten percent if you have a parent with schizophrenia. The more closely you are related the higher the chance of getting the disease. Identical twins have the highest correlation with a fifty-fifty chance of developing the disease if their twin suffers from it. Genes play an important role in determining who will get schizophrenia, but it is only a part of the picture.
It is widely known that a person's genes play a key part in determining whether they will develop schizophrenia. However, it appears that it is a combination of environmental factors and genetic factors that is the cause of schizophrenia. Most people who develop the disease do not have a close relative with schizophrenia. Using the example of the twins, if there is only a fifty percent chance that the other twin will develop the disease, obviously environmental factors are very important. Unfortunately, there is no one answer for preventing schizophrenia. However, there are many things doctors and scientists believe that can be done to help deal with the chances of getting schizophrenia.
If you are considering having a child in the near future, there are important steps you should take to minimize your child's chance of getting schizophrenia. First, be sure you are ready to have a child. The way you treat the child depends greatly on whether you are ready to be pregnant and want to have children. Also, begin taking your prenatal vitamins one to three months before trying to conceive. Be sure to avoid all lead and alcohol exposure during your pregnancy and also if you are breast feeding. Possibly the most important is to minimize your stress level. Everyone suffers from stress sometimes, but it is how you deal with it that determines its impact.
If you already have a child, there are other actions you can take to help minimize their chance of developing schizophrenia. During the first year of life, be sure to hold your baby as often as you can. It is important for the baby to experience at least four hours of human touch a day. Also, as with adults, try to limit your child's exposure to stress. Try to teach your child a positive outlook on life. Finally, although this is sometimes impossible to do, minimize the risk of traumatic events in a child's life. Childhood trauma is believed to be a precursor to mental illness.
For a teenager, there are many suggestions of ways to protect against the development of schizophrenia. First is to avoid any and all street drugs. Illicit drugs cause marked changes in the brain. Probably the most important suggestion is to avoid social isolation and to develop good social skills. We all know how stressful and difficult adolescence can be, but it is even more so for some people. Be sure your teenager has a good set of friends and seems to be doing well socially. If not, do not hesitate to seek assistance from a qualified psychologist or psychiatrist.
A new prevention tool used by some doctors is to give low doses of anti-psychotic medications to those believed to have early symptoms of schizophrenia. This has shown to be beneficial to many patients, but there are numerous serious side effects to consider. As more and more research is done, an answer will be found to unlocking the secrets of this disease. Hopefully someday we will all know the answer to how to prevent schizophrenia.
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