Saturday, August 25, 2007

The Most Encouraging Words That I've Read in a Long Time

From PJ Harrison and DR Weinberger, "Schizophrenia genes, gene expression, and neuropathology: on the matter of their convergence," Molecular Psychiatry 10:[2005]40. They compare the state of research into Alzheimer's and schizophrenia:
In the absence of definitive genes or pathogenic molecular mechanisms, it is not surprising that there is no equivalent of the secretase inhibitors and vaccines being developed in Alzheimer’s disease. However, the situation seems about to change; indeed, it may be changing already.
About 1% of the adult population of the U.S. suffers from schizophrenia; as of the early 1990s, the costs of both treatment and lost productivity was $61 billion a year. This is the single most destructive of the psychoses--especially because it seems to disproportionately hit the upper end of the bell curve of intelligence.

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