Sufferers of schizophrenia ‘may have a treatable immune disorder’ that could be completely cured
- Experts found 1 in 11 psychosis cases involved antibodies attacking the brain
- Antibodies attacked the ‘NMDA receptor’ – which can cause encephalitis
- The findings could open up a different route to tackling mental illness, they say
Schizophrenic sufferers may actually have a treatable immune disorder, new research suggests.
Patients are currently given anti-psychotic medication or forms of psychotherapy as treatment.
But scientists at Oxford University found up to one in 11 psychosis cases may involve a condition where antibodies attack the brain.
The new findings could open up a different route to tackle mental illnesses in a very different way, experts say.
New research suggests that schizophrenic sufferers may actually have a treatable immune disorder – not the mental disorder
Researchers analysed blood sample from 228 patients in the study, published in The Lancet.
They discovered around nine per cent had antibodies that may be relevant to their mental illness.
Antibodies were found to attack the ‘NMDA receptor’ – which have previously been shown to cause encephalitis, a life-threatening inflammation of the brain.
This receptor allows brain cells to communicate with each other.
The discovery offers fresh hope in terms of new treatment possibilities for people experiencing psychosis, the researchers say.
This is because the rapid identification and removal of the same antibodies associated with encephalitis leads to a dramatic improvement, and often complete a cure from the illness.
Scientists found up to one in 11 psychosis cases may involve a condition where antibodies attack the brain – similar to that of encephalitis (stock)
All patients displaying signs of psychosis should be screened for levels of antibodies, according to lead researcher Professor Belinda Lennox.
She told the BBC: ‘The implications of this are that there are patients in mental health services now who will have these antibodies and could potentially be treated in a very different way.
‘I think this is a really exciting advance for psychiatry as a whole, and every psychiatrist and patient with psychosis needs to be aware of this and to look for it and treat it assertively when we find it.’
However some are doubtful that there are large numbers of patients in institutions who have been misdiagnosed.
Josep Dalmau, from the University of Barcelona, told the BBC: ‘The large majority of patients develop other symptoms, for example seizures or abnormal movements.
‘These usually bring the diagnosis to the doctors, so I think the number of patients you may have in a psychiatric institution with well-established psychotic disorder for several months or years, the likelihood they have these antibodies is extremely low.’