Major Psychiatric Disorders Have More In Common Than We Thought, Study Finds

[Judi Lynn]

February 8, 20185:34 PM ET

Major psychiatric disorders like autism, schizophrenia and bipolar appear to have more in common than we thought they did. A new study finds that they have important similarities at a molecular level.

And understanding the molecular basis of major disorders such as autism, schizophrenia and bipolar is hopeful, because it could help in developing better treatments for them.

These psychiatric disorders are diagnosed by how a patient behaves. There are no clear signs on a brain "that you can see with your eyes or most microscopic techniques," says Dan Geschwind, a professor of neurogenetics at UCLA. His team's findings were published in Science this week.

That's different from brain diseases like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's, which physically change the brain. A doctor can look at a brain and say what the patient suffered from.

More:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/02/08/584330475/major-psychiatric-disorders-have-more-in-common-than-we-thought-study-finds?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=news

[pandr32]

1. Hopefully this will result in faster diagnosis.

[mopinko]

2. more reliable dx would be a major improvement.

major. those check box tests are bullshit.