OBJECTIVE Clinical outcome studies of schizoaffective disorder patients have yielded conflicting results. One reason is the heterogeneity of samples drawn from the schizoaffective disorder population. Here, we studied schizoaffective disorder patients who showed marked functional impairment and continuous signs of illness for at least 6 months (i.e., DSM criteria B and C for schizophrenia). M...

There is an increasing recognition that bipolar disorder is associated with elevated mortality and morbidity rates. Although there are still some doubts whether schizophrenia impairs physical health more than other disorders, recent papers [1,2] have demonstrated that bipolar disorder impairs metabolic and cardiovascular systems as much as schizophrenia. Reported prevalence of metabolic syndrom...

Schizophrenia is a serious neuropsychiatric disease of uncertain etiology. We investigated the seropositivity rate for anti-Toxoplasma IgG and IgM antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in patients with schizophrenia to ascertain a possible relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and schizophrenia. We selected 100 patients with schizophrenia, 50 with depressive disorder, and 50 ...

BACKGROUND Studies of couples of psychiatric patients with children allow us to calculate the effects of double predispositions on morbid risk in the offspring, which is of interest for molecular genetic research and for genetic counseling. OBJECTIVE To determine the risks in offspring of receiving a diagnosis of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, unipolar depressive disorder, or any diagnosis ...

This research examined the longitudinal courses of thought disorder in schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and other psychotic and nonpsychotic disorders. One-hundred-eighty young psychiatric inpatients were prospectively diagnosed at an early stage of illness and followed up and evaluated for thought disorder at 2, 4.5, and 7.5 years post-index hospitalization. Patterns of thought disorde...

Objective. The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara spp. infections in patients with schizophrenia disorder. Method. A total of 100 patients with schizophrenia disorder and 95 healthy individuals participated in the study. Participants were tested for the presence of anti-T. gondii and anti-Toxocara spp. antibodies by ELISA and Western ...

OBJECTIVE Since a poor diet is often cited as a contributor to metabolic syndrome for subjects diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, we sought to examine dietary intake, cigarette smoking, and physical activity in these populations and compare them with those for the general population. METHODS Individuals diagnosed with bipolar disorder (n = 116) and schizophrenia (n = 143) were...

Thought disorder as well as language and communication disturbances are associated with schizophrenia and are over-represented in clinically unaffected relatives of schizophrenics. All three kinds of dysfunction involve some element of deviant verbalizations, most notably, semantic anomalies. Of particular importance, thought disorder characterized primarily by deviant verbalizations has a high...