Researchers have long known that people with autoimmune diseases, such as hepatitis, type 1 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and psoriasis, are at greater risk of developing schizophrenia.And he nails the landing!
But new research based on data sets covering the majority of the Danish population shows that the development goes both ways: People suffering from schizophrenia also have an increased risk of contracting autoimmune diseases, especially if they have suffered from a severe infection.
...According to Michael E. Benrós, a lot seems to suggest that infections are a determining factor.
"It could be that people with schizophrenia are genetically vulnerable to infections, which increases the risk of getting schizophrenia but also autoimmune diseases," he says and proceeds to explain that the human immune system can react to an infection by producing antibodies that do not merely react to the infection; the antibodies also start breaking down the body's own tissue. This is how autoimmune diseases develop.
Another possible explanation could be that neuropsychiatric symptoms diagnosed as schizophrenia are the first signs that an autoimmune disease has developed but has not yet been detected.
abstract
