Dr. Black describes schizophrenia as a brain disease characterized by unusual symptoms such as hearing voices, paranoia, and profound personality changes or defects. Schizophrenia typically develops at an early age.
Most experts also believe that the disease is genetically mediated to some degree.
Other factors can enter in, for example, a birth injury may predispose someone to the illness. The study will involve collecting blood samples from people with schizophrenia who have at least one sibling with the same or a related illness. Schizophrenia can have devastating effects on a person's life, and health care expenses involved with treatment can be enormous. Both factors make this study highly valuable.