Schizophrenia is more common in urban neighbourhoods with increased deprivation, population density and inequality, according to a new study.

Dr James Kirkbride, lead author of the study from the University of Cambridge, said, “Although we already know that schizophrenia tends to be elevated in more urban communities, it was unclear why. Our research suggests that more densely populated, more deprived and less equal communities experience higher rates of schizophrenia and other similar disorders. This is important because other research has shown that many health and social outcomes also tend to be optimal when societies are more equal.”

The scientists used data from a large population-based incidence study (the East London first-episode psychosis study directed by Professor Jeremy Coid at the East London NHS Foundation Trust and Queen Mary, University of London) conducted in three neighbouring inner city, ethnically diverse boroughs in East London: City & Hackney, Newham, and Tower Hamlets.

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An antibiotic prescribed to teenagers for acne is to be tested as a treatment to alleviate the symptoms of psychosis in patients with schizophrenia, The Independent reported.

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Yoga, whose all-round benefits are increasingly being accepted across the world, has now been found useful in treating mental and psychiatric disorders, a number of scientific studies have found.

`Some believe that yoga should be used only for prevention and health promotion and not as a therapy for illnesses,` said B.N. Gangadhar, who heads the psychiatry department at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS) here.

`The reality is that it is being increasingly used as a method for treating various disorders, either alone or as in addition to other therapies, including psychiatric ones,` Gangadhar, also director, Advanced Centre for Yoga at NIMHANS said.

A study co-authored by Gangadhar and three associates examined the effect of yoga as a therapy supplementing medical treatment of schizophrenia, a severe mental condition, which registers failure rates as high as 50 to 60 percent. The condition is ranked as the ninth leading cause of mental disability worldwide.

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A cancer drug MS-275 gives us a better understanding of the changes that occur in the brain during the onset of schizophrenia and actually alleviates the symptoms associated with the disease.

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Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and are accompanied by significant social or occupational dysfunction.

The onset of symptoms typically occurs in young adulthood. People with schizophrenia are likely to have additional conditions, including major depression and anxiety disorders.

A person diagnosed with schizophrenia may experience hallucinations (hearing voices), delusions and disorganized thinking and speech. The latter may range from loss of train of thought, to sentences only loosely connected in meaning, to incoherence known as word salad in severe cases.

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Newborn babies with low levels of Vitamin D face double the risk of schizophrenia later in life.

A study conducted by the Queensland University Brain Institute confirmed that those with low Vitamin D had a two-fold increased risk of developing the disorder.

Schizophrenia is a poorly understood group of brain disorders that is usually present in young adults. Symptoms include hearing voices and delusions.

The Queensland research team used tiny samples of blood taken as part of routine screening from newborn babies in Denmark, reports the journal Archives of General Psychiatry.

Also see: How much vitamin D do you actually need?

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