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Schizophrenia Gets A New Diagnostic Tool

by Medindia Content Team on Aug 7 2005 11:28 AM

Researchers from University of New South Wales may be one of the first scientists to develop a tool for diagnosing schizophrenia and bipolar disease. Currently there is no single test that could exactly identify the disease.

The researchers who had their paper published in the latest issue of the journal Psychiatry Research said that this may make the diagnosis of these disease much more cost effective as their tool can safely distinguish between the two disorders which may at times have somewhat similar symptoms. The researchers also hope that with their new diagnostic tool the patients will be able to get treated sooner.

The researchers had decided to focus on the auditory hallucinations experienced by the patients of the schizophrenic disease as their point of research. They had recorded the brain waves associated with sound in 17 patients of the disease while the patients were distracted visually and heard the sound through earphones. They were matched with healthy volunteers having the same background. Researchers had then looked into what happened about 100milliseconds later ion the brain waves of the patients. They had also tested this procedure with a group of people suffering from bipolar disorder to know the difference.

Although the research is yet to complete, the procedure, when fine-tuned, may be used as a biological test to diagnose any of the two disorders, opined the researchers.

Source: EurekAlert

Medindia on Schizophrenia: Further information

Schizophrenia: This is a chronic severe disabling mental illness. Some of the symptoms suffered by schizophrenia are hallucinations seen or heard, feelings of being persecuted, becoming withdrawn, aggression and deranged behavior. Schizophrenia can be treated symptomatically, but only one in five patients have a chance of full recovery.

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