Could Chronic Stress Increase The Risk Of Schizophrenia?

Previous studies have shown that chronic stress can damage the brain. It can exacerbate pre-existing medical conditions, cause foggy-memory and even increase the risk of certain behavioral health issues. Now, recent findings published in the journal Rubin show that chronic stress can actually be linked to permanent brain damage, increasing the risk of certain mental health problems, such as schizophrenia.

Lead study author Professor Dr. Georg Juckel and researchers at LWL University clinic at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB), examined certain types of phagoctyes, particularly microglia.

These phagocytes normally help to repair synapses between nerve cells in the brain as well as stimulate their growth, activation of microglia that nerve cells and trigger inflammation.

Researchers discovered that the more frequently microglia were triggered due to stress, the more they were inclined to remain in the destructive mode. Yet this is particularly troubling as the type of harmful mode can significantly increase a person's risk of developing mental illnesses such as schizophrenia.

Researchers said they believe that the problem could potentially be traced back to the embryonic stage, with previous studies examining the risk of contracting viral influenza during pregnancy and how it can harm a child's development.

"The embryo undergoes some kind of immune response which has far-reaching consequences and presumably shapes the future immune system," concluded co-researcher Dr. Astrid Friebe from the LWL clinic.

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