Aussie researcher makes major schizophrenia breakthrough

          Source: Xinhua| 2018-09-14 14:41:19|Editor: Shi Yinglun
          Video PlayerClose

          SYDNEY, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australian scientist and 30-year schizophrenia research veteran Professor Cynthia Shannon Weickert has made a major breakthrough in her field by identifying increased amounts of immune cells in the brains of some people who suffer from the disease.

          Weickert's research, which was released on Friday, could lead to better diagnosis and treatments, which are currently only partially able to relieve symptoms and often include unwanted side effects.

          "This opens whole new avenues for therapy, because it suggests that the pathology of schizophrenia could be within the immune cells and the immune cells could be contributing to the symptoms of schizophrenia," Weickert said.

          "In our study, we challenged this assumption that immune cells were independent of the brain in psychiatric illness and made an exciting discovery."

          According to Weickert, in the past these new suspects had been thought of as benign travellers and mostly ignored; however the discovery of them in large numbers in the brains of schizophrenics suggest they are more active than they once seemed.

          Weickert herself has a personal connection to the disease, witnessing her twin brother suffering multiple attempts to treat his schizophrenia which often did more harm than good.

          The experience is what prompted Weickert to become a molecular biologist in the first place, believing that with finely tuned research she could stem the devastating effect that schizophrenia has on people who would otherwise live normal and happy lives.

          "I just thought my God we have to get to the bottom of this horrible thing happening to a normal kid," Weickert said.

          Weickert believes that the way forward in psychiatry is to study the brains tissue to discover the underlying causes of pathologies, similar to the way breast cancers have been studied on a molecular level.

          "This is the biggest breakthrough and the most exciting thing I've dug up about the brain in all this time," Weickert said.

          "I can see the path forward now and that's really exciting."?

          TOP STORIES
          EDITOR’S CHOICE
          MOST VIEWED
          EXPLORE XINHUANET
          010020070750000000000000011100001374676671
          无码人妻一区二区三区四区av_亚洲精品911在线永久观看_精品一区二区国产在线观看_日韩不卡一区二区视频在线

                  亚洲国产理论片在线播放 | 天天爽夜夜操一区二区 | 婷婷六月激情综合一区 | 免费国语一级a在线观看 | 日韩精品一区二区三区中文不卡 | 亚洲欧美日韩国产另例丝瓜 |