Smell test 'spots schizophrenia'

[Missouri Mule]

Well, now isn't this interesting.
============

Smell test 'spots schizophrenia'

Simple smell tests could help doctors identify people at risk of developing schizophrenia, a study suggests.
It has long been known that people with schizophrenia or psychosis are unable to correctly identify smells.

But until now scientists were unsure whether this occurred before or after symptoms developed.

This latest study, published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, suggests it happens before the first symptoms appear.

High risk patients

Dr Warrick Brewer and colleagues at the University of Melbourne examined a group of people, all of whom were deemed to have a very high risk of developing psychosis.

They found those who went on to develop schizophrenia, rather than other forms of psychosis, were all unable to identify smells properly.


It sounds like a strange idea but it makes sense

Professor Philip McGuire,
Institute of Psychiatry

For instance, they thought the smell from a pizza actually came from an orange or the smell of bubblegum was actually smoke.
This problem was present before the onset of any significant clinical symptoms of psychosis.

The researchers believe their findings could lead to a new test for schizophrenia, which could in turn transform the way people with the condition are treated.

"An accurate and reliable diagnostic tool for schizophrenia could allow for early treatment or prevention and minimise the extensive and significant distress to those in the community directly and indirectly affected," said Dr Brewer.

The researchers believe that changes in the brain in the very early stages of schizophrenia may prevent people from identifying smells properly.

"It is the only sense that passes straight to this area of the brain," said Dr Brewer.

"Any vulnerability involving these neural circuits can affect our labelling of smell."

'Quite useful'

Professor Philip McGuire of the Institute of Psychiatry in London said the findings were promising.

"It sounds like a strange idea but it makes sense," he told BBC News Online.

"The part of the brain that perceives smells connects parts of the brain implicated in schizophrenia.

"If we were able to use a simple test of how we smell things to identify those at super risk of developing schizophrenia, that would be quite useful.

"Other people are trying to identify other biomarkers with brain scans, for instance. But these are quite expensive.

"Being able to do it in just a few minutes with a simple test is potentially very useful."

He said further studies are needed before doctors could adopt the technique.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/health/3224437.stm

Published: 2003/11/02 00:38:31 GMT

© BBC MMIII

[JLwH211]

Just a little more information on this..........

Schizophrenia has been referred to as the worst disorder affecting human beings. It afflicts nearly 1% of the population world wide. Its onset occurs relatively early in life, and its adverse effects tend to endure.

People with schizophrenia have problems in memory, attention, and communications. Their thinking becomes unraveled. They often think illogically. Their speech may be jumbled. They may combine parts of words into new words or make meaningless rhymes. They may jump from topic to topic, conveying little useful information. They usually do not recognize that their thoughts and behavior is abnormal.

The three types of schizophrenia are paranoid schizophenia, disorganized schizophrenia, and catatonic schizophrenia.

Recent research suggests that a gene on Chromosome 1 may provide the vulnerability to schizophrenia.

[Missouri Mule]

That's interesting and more common that one would imagine.

[Blueangel]

I've got flu.
Everything either doesn't smell or smells burnt.
How long before the schizophrenia kicks in? :p

[Missouri Mule]

If you have the flu you need to take it very seriously. The flu kills thousands of people every year; especially the elderly and people with weak immune systems.

[Blueangel]

Is that wishful thinking on your part? :D

Don't worry about me. I've got the constitution of an Ox.
Plus, I'm typing this whilst wrapped up in a quilt, curled up on the sofa and my pooch keeps checking up on me every 5mins. I'm sure she was a nurse in a previous life.

[Missouri Mule]

Of course not. The flu is nothing to kid about. It is a serious problem. I always get my flu shots and I haven't had the flu more than once or twice in the past 30 years.

[Blueangel]

Don't worry honey. Me getting ill at all is as rare as rocking horse droppings, and it's only the second time I've ever had flu.
I'll live to spar another day ;)

[america]

Originally posted by Blueangel
I've got flu.
Everything either doesn't smell or smells burnt.
How long before the schizophrenia kicks in? :p

standing back a bit

hope you feel better and hope you are wearing a mask

[america]

They may jump from topic to topic, conveying little useful information. They usually do not recognize that their thoughts and behavior is abnormal.


Well ,,,,,,,,, mmmmmmm
so do you think I could get disability?

[Lantern]

Originally posted by JLwH211
Just a little more information on this..........
The three types of schizophrenia are paranoid schizophenia, disorganized schizophrenia, and catatonic schizophrenia.


What are the differences between them?

[Missouri Mule]

You know what paranoid is. Disorganized means their thoughts are all of a jumble and catatonic means a person is essentially motionless and doesn't respond to stimuli. That's my basic understanding of these differences. They are all part of psychosis where a person is divorced from reality as opposed to nerosis that we are all prone to from time to time. I tend to have difficulties with obsessive compulsive behavior.

Now if a normal person is deprived of enough sleep it is possible to go into a state of apparent psychosis, but it isn't a lasting state. A person diagnosed with psychosis has, in my view, a severe checmical imbalance in the brain. With news meds on the way, previously paranoid schizophrenics can live halfway normal lives.

[JLwH211]

Paranoid Schizophrenia-

People with paranoid schizophrenia have systematized delusions and, frequently, related auditory hallucinations. They usually have delusions of grandeur and persecution, but they may also have delusions of jealousy, in which they believe that a spouse or lover has been unfaithful. They may show agitation, confusion, and fear, and may experience vivid hallucinations that are consistent with their delusions. People with paranoid schizophrenia often construct complex and systematized delusions involving themes of wrongdoing or persecution.

Disorganized Schizophrenia-

People with disorganized schizophrenia show incoherence, loosening of associations, disorganized delusions, fragmentary delusions or hallucinations, and flat or highly inappropriate emotional responses. Extreme social impairment is common. People with this type of schizophrenia may also exhibit silliness and giddiness of mood, giggling, and nonsensical speech. They may neglect their appearance and personal hygiene and lose control of their bladder and bowels.

Catatonic Schizophrenia-

People with catatonic schizophrenia show striking impairment in motor activity. It is characterized by a slowing of activity into a stupor that may suddenly change into an agitated state. Catatonic individuals may maintain unusual, even difficult postures for hours, even as their limbs grow swollen and stiff. A striking feature of this condition is waxy flexibility, in which the person maintains the positions into which he or she has been manipulated by others. Catatonic individuals may show show mutism (refusal to talk), but afterward they usually report that they heard what others were saying at the time.

[Simon666]

Originally posted by Blueangel
Don't worry honey. Me getting ill at all is as rare as rocking horse droppings, and it's only the second time I've ever had flu.
I'll live to spar another day ;)
As long as you're young you can take that risk. I've nevertheless always got my shots as kid (dad is a doctor) and now also keep getting them for free at work. I would like to point out that the flu is also often commonly confused by ordinary people with no medical background with a common cold. If you do have the flu, you're usually pretty seriously sick for a couple of days, and if elderly it can even kill you. Other misconceptions are that sleeping with the window open hardens you or that some people get the flu by getting their shots.

[Simon666]

Misconceptions about the flu (http://www.cbc.ca/news/indepth/flu/)
Daphne Gray Grant | January 2000
Updated October 2002
Each flu season, usually from December to March, the disease cuts a swath through workplaces, schools and hospital emergency rooms.

Yet despite its big impact, the flu is poorly understood by most Canadians. We think of it as a nuisance, like the snow. But it's much more than that.

Here are the top 10 misconceptions about the flu.

1) No one ever died from the flu.
Wrong. Although statistically the flu is unlikely to kill young, healthy individuals, it's still the leading infectious cause of hospitalization and death in Canada. That's because it attacks and weakens the elderly and the ill – people with heart and lung conditions, diabetes, kidney disease, HIV and cancer. The flu will kill about 4,500 Canadians in this year alone. That number climbs to 6,000 if you include those who will die from complications, such as pneumonia.

2) For most people it's not a serious illness.
That depends how you define serious. It makes about five million Canadians sick every year – that's one in every six of us. If you're one of the unlucky, you can count on being off work for as much as a week and feeling pretty lousy for much longer than that, perhaps up to a month. About 1.5 million workdays are lost each year and the estimated cost to the Canadian system – in terms of health care costs and lost productivity – is a cool $1 billion.

3) I've had the flu three times this year.
Fortunately, that's just not the case. What you've probably had is a cold, or repeated colds – most people can expect to get two to four of them a year. Here's what sets the flu apart from the common cold:


It comes on suddenly. While the total incubation period is usually about two days, you can go from feeling perfectly fine to death warmed over in a matter of hours. That's because the flu virus is a profligate little bug. "It replicates in just four hours," says Dr. Danuta Skowronski, a physician epidemiologist with the B.C. Centre for Disease Control.
You have a fever. With a cold, you may be sneezing and uncomfortable, but your temperature isn't likely to rise. With the flu, the alternating fever and chills may make you feel as though your body's thermostat has gone completely wacky.
You're exhausted. "The technical term is 'prostration'," says Skowronski. "What that means is flat out fatigue." With a cold you feel as though you can carry on. With the flu, you just want to crawl into bed.

4) I can't have the flu – I'm not nauseated.
Contrary to common belief, stomach and intestinal complaints aren't generally a feature of the flu, except in small children. "The flu is a respiratory illness," says Skowronski, "and the lungs are the major site of symptoms." You might be surprised to learn that the virus doesn't even spread throughout your body. Your headache, fever and aching muscles are actually an "inflammatory response" – that is, your body is working overtime to try to kill off the virus in your lungs. A small number of people (fewer than 10 per cent) may have some intestinal problems with the flu, but that's not the main feature of the bug. If you were nauseated and vomiting, it's far more likely you had food poisoning or gastroenteritis. As for the term "stomach flu", well, there's no such thing.

5) I'm so sick – I need a doctor!
Unless you're elderly or have other health problems, resist the urge to see your doctor. Antibiotics are powerless in the face of the flu virus, and you'll only be spreading your germs to others in the waiting room. Dr. Louise Sourisseau, a family practitioner in Richmond, B.C. says that during flu season, somewhere between five and 10 per cent of her patients are suffering from the flu. "I think the degree of respiratory symptoms they have really surprises them," she says. "A lot of them feel so sick they can't believe it's the flu." Nevertheless, she's pleased that fewer and fewer patients are demanding antibiotics. "I think more people understand that it's a viral illness." The time to see your doctor is if symptoms start to worsen after the illness should have peaked (about three days) or if you start coughing up a thick, green sputum.

(PART 1 OF 2)

[Simon666]

6) There's nothing I can do to prevent the flu.
Wrong, on three counts. First, steer clear of people who have the bug. Second, wash your hands frequently. "It doesn't need to be super hot water – you're not trying to sterilize your hands," says Skowronski, "you're just trying to wash the virus away." Nor do you need the fancy new anti-bacterial soaps. The soap isn't meant to kill the bug, it's purpose is to make your hands slippery, so the virus slides off under water. Third, and most important, get immunized. "Immunization is a modern miracle," Skowronski says. The immunization does many things – it reduces the incidence of the flu, its severity, its duration and your level of infectiousness. Many people can get the shot for free (if you're elderly, a health care worker or have a health condition) and a growing number of companies are offering them to their employees. Even if you have to pay for the shot yourself it's a bargain – about $10 at your doctor's office or local public health clinic. Still not convinced? Here are the numbers showing the vaccine's efficacy, from the Mayo Health Clinic:

70 to 90 per cent prevention rate in healthy recipients
30 to 50 per cent prevention in elderly recipients
50 to 70 per cent reduction in total hospitalizations
50 to 85 per cent reduction in deaths
The only reason to avoid the vaccine is if you're allergic to eggs (it's grown in an egg base).

7) I never get sick – I don't need a flu shot.
Trouble is, you may be sick and just not know it. About one in five people can have the virus and have no symptoms whatsoever. That means you may be unwittingly passing the bug along to your co-workers – or, worse, your baby, your diabetic friend or your elderly grandmother. Dr. Alison McGear, director of infection control at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, says the day is coming when all of us will get flu shots. "I think that's where we're going," she says. Bottom line now: it's worth considering paying for the shot yourself, even if you're young and healthy.

8) The last time I had a flu shot, it gave me the flu.
Impossible. While the flu shot may give you a sore arm or make you feel a bit achy for a day or so, it can't actually give you the flu. That's because it's made from a dead form of the virus that "tricks" your body into thinking it's the flu, and jump starts your immune system into producing antibodies. "Some people may come down with the flu after getting the shot but that's either coincidence or they were already incubating it," Sourisseau says. It's also worth remembering that the flu shot is highly specific (it only protects you against the strains of the flu for which it was developed) and it won't protect you against the common cold

9) If I get the flu, I can just take one of the new anti-flu drugs on the market.
Bonus points if you're aware that there are two new anti-viral drugs now licensed in Canada to fight the flu. They're known by the trade names Relenza, which is inhaled, and Tamiflu, which is taken orally. That's the good news. The bad news is that they have to be taken in the first 24 to 48 hours of illness – when many people may not realize they have the flu. "The horse is out of the barn after that," says Skowronski. What's more, the drugs require a prescription. That fact has the potential for dramatically driving up health care costs if people whisk themselves to the doctor at the first sign of a fever. Health officials have yet to come up with recommendations for the public on that question, Skowronski says.

10) Science will soon have the flu beat.
Well, not likely. The flu is a tricky virus; it mutates all the time, getting tougher and smarter. And every 10 to 40 years it mutates so radically, it leads to a pandemic. The most famous recent one, which occurred in 1918, killed somewhere between 30 and 50 million people worldwide. There was another frightening bout in 1968. Scientists were worried that the avian flu of 1997 was going to be the next big pandemic, but fortunately, the virus didn't transmit itself very well – and officials took quick action, wiping out the chicken population in Hong Kong. "The big question," says Skowronski, "is whether that virus is still in hiding somewhere, mutating." No one knows the answer to that one.

(PART 2 OF 2)

[Missouri Mule]

That's interesting. Thanks for the info.