With eight centers around the United States, and one in Australia, seeking more than 500 families, this will be the largest collection of families with schizophrenia ever gathered using unified methods. An inborn tendency to develop schizophrenia runs in some families. This study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, will search for the genetic variations that increase those individuals risks of developing the disorder. Finding the genes that put people at risk may be the quickest and most effective way to begin to understand the biological processes that result in this devastating disease, said Pablo Gejman, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Chicago and director of the nationwide study. Understanding the cause is a crucial first step toward better treatments.
Schizophrenia is a prevalent and complex disorder.
It causes delusional thinking and hallucinations, often in the form of mysterious voices. Medications for schizophrenia are available. One-third of treated patients are able to return to reasonably normal lives, but many patients either do not respond to the drugs, are distressed by the side effects, or resist taking them and suffer a relapse. This is a horrible disease that can break families apart, notes Alan Sanders, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at the University and a member of the research team. Many patients can no longer function socially, lose touch with their parents and siblings, and develop a profound distrust of any sort of authority.