Schizophrenia

Concerning The Baltimore Sun article "Cat parasite reaches human brain: Possibility of link to schizophrenia explored" (Aug. 1): Outrageous. 1. Schizophrenia has long been understood by psychodynamic psychologists (Theodore Lidz, among others) as caused by a certain pattern of faulty emotional attachment by parents and parent-figures from early on in a child's life, causing distorted emotional development. 2. People have been cured of it--see the web site of the National Empowerment Center.

In what may be the greatest victory to date for the sophisticatedly asinine organization "No Labels," the Associated Press has embraced a new policy against "labeling people. " For instance, its widely used and influential style guide is being purged of such terms as "schizophrenic" in favor of "diagnosed with schizophrenia. " Most of the chatter about the AP's move has been over its decision to drop the term "illegal immigrant. " AP Senior Vice President and Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll explained that the change on "illegal immigrant" was based on the no-labeling policy.

Johns Hopkins University scientists trying to determine why people develop serious mental illness are focusing on an unlikely factor: a common parasite spread by cats. The researchers say the microbes, called Toxoplasma gondii , invade the human brain and appear to upset its chemistry — creating, in some people, the psychotic behaviors recognized as schizophrenia. If tackling the parasite can help solve the mystery of schizophrenia, "it's a pretty good opportunity … to relieve a pretty large burden of disease," said Dr. Robert H. Yolken, director of developmental neurobiology at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

Months before he allegedly killed a family friend in Harford County, eating his heart and parts of his brain, Alexander Kinyua was suffering from paranoid schizophrenia and believed reptilian aliens were coming to destroy Earth, a judge said Wednesday. The revelations about the slow but steady deterioration of Kinyua's mind came as Baltimore Circuit Judge Gale E. Rasin accepted his plea of guilty but not criminally responsible on separate allegations that he attacked a fellow Morgan State University student with a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire.

Jumping into one of the liveliest debates in psychiatry, researchers at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions will investigate an unconventional theory that viruses or other infectious agents trigger schizophrenia.The project, made possible by a $7 million grant from the private Theodore and Vada Stanley Foundation of Arlington, Va., is a large effort considering its speculative focus. It will involve nine faculty members and nine research "fellows" to be recruited over three years.Most schizophrenia studies have been dominated by research psychiatrists and geneticists, but this one will be centered in the department of pediatric infectious diseases.

Tonight's Frontline paints a portrait of the tragic frustration that is called schizophrenia."Broken Minds," which will be on Maryland Public Television, channels 22 and 67, at 9 o'clock, is not a clinical examination of the disease, a dispassionate chronicling of the variety of its manifestations with a look at the latest research in the area.Indeed, this PBS documentary is a bit skimpy with the basic facts. It never provides even a basic definition of schizophrenia, or, alternatively, an admission that the disease is fundamentally beyond definition.

Strong new evidence supporting the emerging consensus that many cases of schizophrenia are caused by a virus or other trauma that strikes the fetus during the second trimester of pregnancy was reported yesterday by an Arkansas neurologist.A growing number of neurologists now are confident that schizophrenia, which affects as many as 2.5 million Americans, is caused by congenital abnormalities in the areas of the brain that control thought and perception. But it has not been clear whether those abnormalities were inherited or caused by something in the environment.

A woman's battle with a virus such as flu during pregnancy might put her child at risk for schizophrenia later in life, new research suggests. Scientists at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons tested blood taken from thousands of pregnant women in 1959 through 1966. The blood of mothers whose children later developed the disabling mental illness had high levels of interleukin-8, an inflammatory chemical that fights infection. The finding strengthens the researchers' earlier work, presented last year at the Society of Biological Psychiatry meeting.

In the largest research contract in the school's history, the University of Maryland School of Medicine will receive $24 million over six years from the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis to delve into the severest of mental illnesses, schizophrenia.The collaboration, announced yesterday, aims to produce a drug to treat the most disabling symptoms of schizophrenia, including social withdrawal, memory problems and lack of motivation, for whichno treatment exists. Such an advance could help millions around the world.

A 15-year study of families touched by schizophrenia has turned up strong evidence of a genetic susceptibility to the mental disorder, according to scientists from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.The scientists, who studied more than 100 families, said they have found a genetic marker that many schizophrenic patients shared with family members afflicted with the disease. This, they say, lends weight to the long-held belief that genetics is at least partly responsible for the disease.

Dr. Rose C. Kurz, a retired psychiatric nurse and educator who had been a consultant to the Pan American Health Organization, died Aug. 3 of complications after surgery at Upper Chesapeake Medical Center in Bel Air. The Forest Hill resident was 85. Rose C. Kurz, whose father was chairman of the biology department at Florida State University, and whose mother was a homemaker, was born and raised in Tallahasse, Fla., where she graduated from...

Police are searching for a 74-year-old man who suffers from delusional disorder, schizophrenia and dementia and went missing from his nursing home in Southwest Baltimore on Wednesday. Raymond Burke was last seen at about 9 p.m. at the Rock Glen Nursing & Rehabilitation Center off North Rock Glen Road. He was wearing a gray fleece sweater, black pants and black shoes. Anyone with information is asked to contact the Missing Persons Unit at 443-984-7385 or 911. jkanderson@baltsun.

The 19-year-old Baltimore man charged with killing a Hispanic man early Saturday in what has been classified as a hate crime was being treated for schizophrenia and just a month earlier had been committed to a hospital for treatment, according to police and court records. Jermaine R. Holley told police he beat 51-year-old Martin Reyes with a board because he hated "Mexicans. " Police have said the suspect may have stopped taking his medications at the time of the attack. Saturday's killing in the 200 block of N. Kenwood Ave. was the latest in a string of attacks against Hispanics in East Baltimore.

Concerning The Baltimore Sun article "Cat parasite reaches human brain: Possibility of link to schizophrenia explored" (Aug. 1): Outrageous. 1. Schizophrenia has long been understood by psychodynamic psychologists (Theodore Lidz, among others) as caused by a certain pattern of faulty emotional attachment by parents and parent-figures from early on in a child's life, causing distorted emotional development. 2. People have been cured of it--see the web site of the National Empowerment Center.

Johns Hopkins University scientists trying to determine why people develop serious mental illness are focusing on an unlikely factor: a common parasite spread by cats. The researchers say the microbes, called Toxoplasma gondii , invade the human brain and appear to upset its chemistry — creating, in some people, the psychotic behaviors recognized as schizophrenia. If tackling the parasite can help solve the mystery of schizophrenia, "it's a pretty good opportunity … to relieve a pretty large burden of disease," said Dr. Robert H. Yolken, director of developmental neurobiology at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

It is "the worst pariah, one of the last great taboos," says the character Robert Smith in the British play "Blue/Orange." "People don't understand it. ... It scares them. It depresses them. It is not treated with some glamorous and intriguing wonder drug like Prozac or Viagra. It isn't newsworthy. Organized crime gets better press." Smith, a psychiatrist at a British hospital, is speaking of schizophrenia, one of the most devastating of all mental illnesses and traditionally one of the least well understood by the public.

Shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals fell 73 percent yesterday to its lowest level since going public two years ago after the Rockville company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its schizophrenia drug, known as iloperidone. In a letter to the company, the FDA said it would require two additional clinical trials for approval, one to test iloperidone's efficacy in conjunction with another drug and one to gather more safety data. During a conference call yesterday, Vanda Chief Executive Officer Mihael H. Polymeropoulos said that would be impossible.

Gene Logic Inc., a Columbia-based genomics company, and the Johns Hopkins University said yesterday that they will collaborate on research aimed at discovering the genes associated with schizophrenia and depression.The deal, said one expert, places year-old Gene Logic in one of the hottest fields of current research on depression and schizophrenia, disorders which affect millions in the United States alone.The ultimate goal of the partnership: license out the discoveries to major pharmaceutical houses interested in developing new drugs to treat the disorders.

Shares of Vanda Pharmaceuticals fell 73 percent yesterday to its lowest level since going public two years ago after the Rockville company said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected its schizophrenia drug, known as iloperidone. In a letter to the company, the FDA said it would require two additional clinical trials for approval, one to test iloperidone's efficacy in conjunction with another drug and one to gather more safety data. During a conference call yesterday, Vanda Chief Executive Officer Mihael H. Polymeropoulos said that would be impossible.

Will was the model student, lacrosse captain, student president at school. The Harford Technical High School whiz landed a four-year scholarship to the Johns Hopkins University. Everyone who knew William Garrett said the intelligent, affable teenager would one day be the president. Soon after arriving at college, he started hearing voices. Will accused his father of poisoning their dog. His grades in college began to falter. And he began seeing things, said his younger sister, Nicole Kanyuch.