Million People are Affected by Schizophrenia Worldwide
1 in every 100 people will develop schizophrenia in their lifetime
Disease onset is unpredictable but typically occurs in the teens and 20s
Number of adolescents that have a psychotic episode each year in thousands
About Schizophrenia and the Prodrome
Schizophrenia is generally classified as a Psychotic Disorder and the condition interferes with a person’s ability to think clearly, manage emotions, make decisions and relate to others.
Current diagnostic criteria (DSM-V and ICD-10) require that the individual experience at least one of the following symptoms: delusions, hallucinations or disorganized speech. However, a formal diagnosis of schizophrenia is typically preceded by years of behavioral and cognitive changes – this is called the Prodrome.
Prodromal symptoms include cognitive impairments, social withdrawal, drops in academic performance, and attenuated psychotic symptoms.
The prodromal phase can extend for years and not all individuals experiencing “prodromal symptoms” will convert to a diagnosis of schizophrenia.
No single cause has been found for schizophrenia, although there is a clear genetic link.
Currently available therapeutics do not address the underlying cause of disease and do not address all symptoms associated with the condition, particularly in the cognitive domain.
LINKS FOR MORE INFORMATION:
http://www.nami.org/factsheets/schizophrenia_factsheet.pdf
http://report.nih.gov/nihfactsheets/ViewFactSheet.aspx?csid=67
http://www.who.int/mental_health/management/schizophrenia/en/
ORION PRODROMAL MENTAL HEALTH PROGRAM:
A number of institutions have longitudinal clinical databases and biosample repositories that include individuals identified as Clinical High Risk (CHR) for progression to psychosis.
Orion Bionetworks will convene a Bionetwork of these institutions, computational and systems modeling organizations, advocacy and patient powered networks to:
- Curate and Integrate data on Orion’s Cloud-based Data-sharing Platform for use by Alliance partners and other qualified researchers
- Analyze available biosample data on multiple platforms (e.g. genomic, proteomic, etc) using well-validated platforms and standard methods
- Build first-generation computational models from combined clinical, imaging, neurocognitive and molecular data
- Mine the models to accelerate the discovery of new diagnostics, treatments and cures for mental health
