Schizophrenia Flashcards
purely psychotic symptoms are indicative of this disorder
schizophrenia
a disorder that has mostly mood symptoms, and some psychotic symptoms
bipolar disorder
characterizations of schizophrenia
delusions (fixed, false beliefs, often paranoid), hallucinations, odd behavior, language disturbance, normal memory and cognition
patients with schizophrenia may present looking like they are..
high on drugs (do a tox screen)
examples of behavior of schizophrenia
strangeness, shopping cart men, bag ladies, repeating words, neologisms (made up words with special meanings)
best estimate of worldwide population with schizophrenia
0.5-1% (0.7%)
age of onset of schizophrenia
15-25 y/o for males
20-30 y/o for females
later, abrupt age of onset indicates this prognosis
good prognosis
earlier age of onset, gradual onset, family Hx indicates this prognosis
bad prognosis
phases of schizophrenia
phase 1 prodrome
phase 2 psychotic phase
phase 3 positive symptoms resolution
parental factor that increases risk for schizophrenia
increased paternal age at time of conception
genetic risk factors for schizophrenia
10% chance if 1 parent affected; 50% chance is both parents affected
environmental risk factors for schizophrenia
cannabis, brain trauma, severe stress in predisposed individuals
what is the outcome of the study showing that if an identical twin has schizophrenia, that the other twin has a 50% chance of getting it?
there are both genetic and environmental factors at play for schizophrenia
diagnosing schizophrenia must include one of these signs for at least one month
(and one must be 1, 2, or 3)
- hallucinations
- delusions
- disorganized speech (grossly bizarre language)
- catatonia or grossly disorganized behavior
- negative symptoms, affective flattening, alogia, avolition
what are the positive symptoms? what are the negative symptoms?
pos: delusions, hallucinations
neg: blunted affect, social withdrawal, lack of motivation
what are the thought disorganization symptoms? what are the cognitive symptoms?
loosed associated, neologisms
memory deficit, concentration problems
other things in differential for schizophrenia patients
drug intox (coke, amphetamine, PCP, bath salts), medical conditions, other psych disorders
important medical condition in differential for schizophrenia diagnosis
Huntington’s disease! depression, anxiety, hallucinations, delusions, irritability, dementia, choreiform movements, high suicide risk
a triplet repeat disease with genetic anticipation; whats the amino acid run in the protein? in what part of meiosis does this repeat expand?
Huntington’s disease
glutamine
male meiosis
what happens to the gross brain during Huntington’s?
disappearance of caudate nucleus
what is the ratio of symptoms in schizoaffective disorder?
half mood signs, half psychotic signs (if it was more psychotic, it would be schizophrenia)
a disorder with prominent delusions without hallucinations or language disturbance; subtypes
delusional disorder, often paranoid
can be erotomanic, jealous, persecutory, somatic (do not do surgery on these patients)
if psychosis is less than one month, its….
if less than 6 months
if more than 6 months
brief psychotic disorder
schizophreniform disorder
schizophrenia
gross brain pathology of schizophrenia
enlarged ventricles, shrunken thalamus, frontal lobe deficit, limbic system overdrive, dopamine tract is off
origin of dopamine
tracts of dopamine
substantia nigra
mesolimbic
mesocortical
nigrostriatal
tubero-infundibular
results of frontal lobe problems in schizophrenia
poor planning, poor self monitoring, poor grooming, poor social connections
