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Infections, particularly during pregnancy or early in a baby's life, may also link schizophrenia and bipolar disorder as well as serious unipolar depression. "The idea is that these infections might interact with the developing brain, presumably also interacting with genetic factors, to yield the disease state," says Robert H. Yolken, a pediatrics professor at Johns Hopkins University. Yolken has found that "mothers who have evidence of infection with herpes simplex virus type 2 (genital herpes) or of inflammation--as evidenced by increased cytokines--are more likely to have children with psychosis." The psychosis can take the form of schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or bipolar disorder. Yolken published a paper [Am. J. Psychiatry, 160, 2234 (2003)] "suggesting that some individuals who get antiviral drugs show some improvement in their symptoms. That was in schizophrenia, but I think the study should be done in individuals with bipolar disorder as well." Yolken used the antiviral Valtrex (valacyclovir hydrochloride). Now he's doing a similar study using medications that fight Toxoplasma gondii, "a parasite that also appears to be implicated in some cases of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder." |
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