Stem cell research providing better understanding of Schizophrenia

Stem cells have always given their high contribution to the medical field. The stem cells are those cells that can generate into some special type of cells or stem cells. These special cells help in repairing and regenerating of tissues and organs. Few days earlier a group of scientists did a research on persons suffering from the disease named Schizophrenia. There were extracted skin cells from the body of four schizophrenia patients. These cells were processed into the embryonic stage and then were altered into brain cells. This stem cells news has aroused the interest of many scientists who are into the study of causes of this disease.

It is a possibility that the research will be useful to understand the causes and also the impact of medication in the patients. The stem cell research was conducted in California. After the study the team found that the altered neurons taken from Schizophrenia patients were making lesser number of nerve connection rather than those taken from the healthy body. Thus the lower neural connection proved to be major cause for this neurological disease. Professor Fred Gage who was the head of the research said that it was the very first time that such a complex mental disease has been studied in the live cells of human body.

Benefits of stem cells is that the same experiment can be used for other brain disorders by following the same way that was modeled in an open dish. It involved the reprogramming of the skin cells of the patients into embryonic and then growing into different type of brain cells. Moreover this mechanism would also be useful to understand the mental state of those where secrets of these biological methods are hard to reveal. Several environmental factors have also been found to act as a catalyst in the growth of disease. Furthermore one more scientist suggested that by growing neurons in dish the environment factor can be removed and thus shifting more focus on the biological mechanism.

Moreover during the research there was observed the effects of the drugs on the patients. Five different types of neurons were exposed to neurons and some amazing results were obtained. A drug called Loxapine improved the neural connection of all the patients and rest of the medication was found improved the connectivity in the cells of one patient only. The research would help to test which of the drugs are suitable for every individuals. People usually try so many drugs to know which one will suit at its best. This study is however a beginning. It will come out with many more advanced techniques in the near future.