Question

Besides depression and Alzheimer’s Disease how would schizophrenia affect aging in the elderly population?

Answer 1

Schizophrenia is the term used for a group of disorders characterised by deterioration of of reality, withdrawal from society and social interaction, disorganisation and fragmentation of thoughts , perception and enotions etc.it occurs at a median age of 22 but in some people it occurs in middle adulthood or old age as well. It effects the aging and growth of people .

The general aging is different from aging in schizophrenia. Schizophrenic people have increased rate of physical aging with higher rates of premature morbidity and mortability. A 40 year old schizophrenic persin us compared to a 60 year old normal person. The mortality rate is 20-23 years less than the general population in schizophrenia. Around 20% people show the onser of schizophrenia after 40 years. This requires a comparatively lower daily dosage of antipsychotics. These antipsychotics reflect changes in aging as well. The basic change is that due to anti psychotics the volume of distribution and elimination of medications increases. Due an increase in hepatic protein synthesis the biologically active drug increases which increases the concentration of the drug in the brain as a result the person gets more risky towards depression, parkinsons syndrome etc. the older generations have a persistent but not progressive cognituve decline. It is also supported by evidences of lower brain volume in the aged people suffering from schizophrenia. It is also responsible for a cellular degeneration and the neural inactivity as a result of which the older genrations show comparatively double the ageing effects as compared to the younger generations. It can be hence said that although the diagnosis of schizophrenia in elders is better but it harms their health a lot inducing other risks as well and causes increased ageing as a result of which the people die early.