Study:Could Some Cases of Schizophrenia Be Caused by an Autoimmune Disease?

Hi HopeandSupport,

My message was removed by Sane moderators which is why you cant see it here.

Oddly,i also cant see your message here,i can only see it in my inbox.

Sane moderators removed my post because I posted a link which was partly authored by an Australian psychiatrist that studies/treats women with Oestrogen.

The moderators claimed basically that if a person was to see the doctor who wrote the study as a patient and then decided that their experience/expectations of them (the doctor) wern't met ,that they could then sue Sane (under defamation) as the doctor didn't "live up" to the impression they have received about them on Sane forums.

To be honest this to me seems weird logic and "overkill" because there are many websites on the internet that people everyday not only share information but in some cases give outright recommendations-for example the cosmetic surgery website "realself"-has people featuring their surgery stories,outcomes,name of the doctor/s who performed the surgery etc and they (realself company) arn't being sued by people who felt a well reviewed surgeon did a crappy job on them and didn't match their expectations etc.

Oh well,maybe it was at the advice of lawyers.

Anyway,Im glad to hear your daughter is alot better than six months ago.

To be honest,most Immunologists in Australia will not "touch" (work with) patients that have psychosis symptoms and they are still in denial that its a part of their domain and would refer her back to the psychiatrist.

However if her tests came back positive for CNS Lupus,MS or Paraneoplastic Limbic Encephalitis then they would work with her/inconjuction with Neuro team.

I really hope the neuroscientist you mentioned can really get the word out about the immune system findings/factors and open the eyes of doctors/specialists in this country.

It sounds like your daughters G.p is at least somewhat open minded so i hope she does the Nmdar antibody test (if your daughters willing).

The main reason why i mentioned does your daughter have any endocrine symptoms is because if she did a Endocrinologist would be much more willing to order hormone tests.

Without that the only real option is through an open minded G.p,a psychiatrist who deals in this area(rare) or by self ordering (expensive) from a private pathology company whose name i cant type here

Wish you all the best.

PS.Would you mind saying how her symptoms started and are they "classical" paranoia and auditory hallucination symtoms or something else?

Hi @ivana

Here is more information about naming of professionals if you wish to learn more

Thanks,

Nik

Hi @NikNik I really appreciate SANE's position.

Hi @ivana I am glad you are posting.

I find your insights worthwhile. My brother with cancer is heavily into immunotherpaies so I have been looking at these things for last few years and I will look more, but bottom line there seems to be too much stress too.

Thanks Appleblossom.I feel....hesitant to post now after what happened previously.

Sorry to hear that your brother has cancer.

In my view,its amazing (and tragic) how complex and multifactoral the findings in Schizophrenia/s are -eg the high stress + autoimmune findings.

In addition, "communication" between the nervous,endocrine + immune systems play a role in modulating the adequate response of the HPA axis to the stimulatory influence of cytokines.

I should state that im not suggesting the autoimmune findings are relevant/applicable to everyone who has this diagnosis,at the same time though it would be good to see the field of Psychiatry take a more individualised medicine approach (including treating some with immunosuppresants) instead of treating everying with Schizophrenia the same way (ie:dopamine antagonists).

There are studies dating back from 1970's (perhaps even before?) suggesting there is an autoimmune conponent in some with a "schizophrenia" diagnosis however many doctors still consider it premature even now 40 years later to treat selective patients with immune therapies.

I think this is a sad indictment of the medical profession in Australia with its refusal to believe that the psychiatry field should "cross over" with other fields (specialities) such as neurology,immunology and endocrinology.

This deeply ingrained culture amongst doctors is hard to break,due to stigma i guess?

Most immunologists dont want to see patients with "bizzare" symptoms and refer them back to Psychiatrists who often know alot about bizarre symptoms but often know little about the immune system and dont see the relavance of it to psychiatry.

I find your posts intelligent and relevant and opening up of the conversation. I dont know enough but keep chipping away at my understanding

I agree there should crossover between specialities and research done ... but I guess it takes time for findings to be taken up be medical profession .. with some reason.

There are also similar autism findings re immunotherapies but DR Bradstreet just suicided in June .. because the FDA visited his clinic in the US. My brother calls him a martyr but my brother is now a sick and desperate man, though a "positive thinker" from way back .. you should see his blog, technical as hell .. with lots of mention of god!

There is anecdotal stuff related to vitamins and zinc deficiency.

All I can do is take the next step and next breath. and now I am into the computer a bit .. type the next post.

Hi Ivana

I mentioned some medication brand, i am pretty new on here, so just learning the rules. In reply to your email, thanks for your information re immunologists, it's good to know what to expect if I ever get that far that is. My daughter is quite averse to blood tests although she does have an injection once a fortnight but doesn't like it at all. I know that she had an MRI when she was first diagnosed and I think when she was in hospital earlier this year. She also had blood tests but can't quite remember what they were for. The first medication she took resulted in cessation of menstruation so her medication was changed, the medicaiton she is on now hasn't affected her menstruation but it is mild I think from what she has told me. The medication she is on now is the same as the first one she was taking so I don't know what has changed. Her prolactin levels were up at one stage but the last blood test she had showed they were normal. Her symptons were classic paranoia and auditory hallucinations which are not there anymore thank god,and thank the medication. She is still having some trouble with intrusive thoughts, but is seeing a psychologist. Thanks for the advice re the endocrinologist, that makes sense, I will put that to our GP and see what she says, hopefully my daughter will agree to seeing one as well. I guess if we keep talking and pushing for change something might happen. Even if it is only an outside chance there is a different cause, it is worth the exploring all the possibilities. Thanks again for all your help and information.