Schizophrenia and genetics not as linked as once thought

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A new group of researchers studying mental illness and its root causes are calling into question the commonly held belief that schizophrenia (and by implication, other disorders) may not be genetic. The research is based on new looks at some of the atrocities that happened during World War II.

Nazi victims included schizophrenics

Many researchers during and after the war documented the extermination practices of the Nazi regime, which included the elimination or sterilization of diagnosed schizophrenics, manic depressives (which we would call bipolar), homosexuals, the physically deformed, and many others based on medical condition or disorder.

High number of schizophrenics afterward

Between 1933 and 1945, the Nazis managed to empty Germany of nearly all documented schizophrenics. Yet within a generation or so after the war's end, Germany's total number of schizophrenic patients, by population, was once again higher than the European average. Coupled with the already low average reproductive rate of those with serious mental illnesses (including schizophrenia), the genetic link begins to look very tenuous.

While the Germans went to extreme measures to rid their populations of what the Nazis considered to be "undesireables," they were not alone in this promotion of genetic cleansing. Other nations, including the United States, embarked on various "eugenics" operations to curb the public cost of caring for those with severe mental illnesses. Eventually, of course, the idea died out as the push for euthanizing those with severe mental issues caused public backlash.

Treatment and preventative care would change

Yet the data remain, and many researchers are hoping to use the information to make sure that those murdered by the Nazis in the name of "science" did not die in vain. If genetics are no longer considered a primary cause of schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, treatments and even preventive care would change drastically. This may result in better options and a lowered rate of illness overall.

 
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