Although the factors causing schizophrenia are still unknown
most of its symptoms are.
One of them is early psychotic episodes that 3% of the population suffers.
A study done by the Biomedical Research Network Center for Mental Health
shows an inflammatory cellular process at the beginning of the illness.
More specifically in the first episode of psychosis.
The research group
composed of several Spanish universities and hospitals
analyzed the lymphocytes of 117 patients with this first-episode psychosis
from different hospitals. They compared them to 106 healthy people.
According to the authors,
there is an increase of pro-inflammatory markers
and a decrease of the inflammatory ones.
this indicates an imbalance between them at this stage.
The study published in "Schizophrenia Bulletin"
opens the way for the use of anti-inflammatory medicines
in the treatment of schizophrenia.
The Ig Nobel Prizes or anti-nobel are a parody of the Swedish Academy Awards
that try to make us laugh and think in equal measure.
Organized by the science humor journal "Improbable Research",
they are awarded to unusual scientific papers.
In present edition, Spanish scientists won the Ig Nobel for Nutrition
for demonstrating that from lactic bacteria in babies' poo
probiotics for the production of chorizo are obtained.
The study has been published in "Food Microbiology".
The Ig Nobel for Neuroscience was given to a group of scientists
that tried to show what happens in the brain of people
that see Jesus' face on a toast.
The one for Physiology went to a survey that showed evidence
that people who get up late
are more self-indulgent, manipulative and psychopathological
than early risers.
Finally, the Ig Nobel for Public Health
went for a study on whether it is mentally harmful
to be the owner of a cat.
The control illusion is a psychological term
that explains the tendency to believe we can influence on events
when they are actually uncontrollable.
It is a phenomenon that happens more often than we think.
For example, when we cheer up our football team at home
believing we can help them win.
A National University of Distance Learning and Deusto's research aims to elucidate
if pathological gamblers show this behaviour even outside the game.
The results showed that control illusion demonstrated by gamblers
was significantly higher than the controls.
The results raise interesting questions
like to which extent control illusion leads people to gamble
or whether it is the game which encourages this behaviour.
The aim of these studies is to understand this phenomenon
in order to improve its treatment
and reduce this tendency in compulsive gamblers.
José Antonio López Guerrero, Madri+D and Uned Television.