Schizophrenia and Psychosis

About one in a hundred people have schizophrenia and can have a variety of ‘positive’ symptoms, such as hallucinations, delusions or disordered speech/behaviour, and ‘negative’ symptoms such as problems with fluency of language and thoughts or with expression of emotions.

As is the case with most mental illness, the cause of schizophrenia is not known. The conventional treatment for schizophrenia is usually long-term treatment with antipsychotic medication. A nutritional approach works alongside conventional treatment and may improve both positive and negative symptoms, and also reduce the side-effects of medication.

Below is an outline of nutrition approaches that may be relevant:

• Correcting blood sugar problems made worse by excess stimulant and drug use • Addressing essential fat imbalances • Increasing antioxidants; niacin (Vitamin B3) therapy • Addressing methylation problems helped by B12 and folic acid • Investigating pyroluria and the need for zinc and identifying any food allergies

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

A body of biochemical evidence suggests that abnormal phospholipid metabolism may play a role in the etiology of schizophrenia, and possibly, other psychiatric and neurological diseases. Niacin, a B-complex vitamin, induces prostaglandin synthesis, vasodilatation, and skin flushing when applied as a solution on the skin or taken orally. In schizophrenia, diminished or absent skin response to niacin represents a robust finding.

RESULTS:

Attenuated niacin skin-flush response has been analysed as a potential biochemical marker of impaired prostaglandin signaling in schizophrenia. Diminished skin redness after topical application of niacin might be caused by a reduced level of the precursor arachidonic acid in the peripheral membranes, increased activity of the enzyme phospholipase A2, abnormal expression of niacin or prostaglandin receptors, or poor vasomotor activity of cutaneous capillary walls. Heritability estimates established in several studies support niacin skin flush response as a vulnerability...