Smoking and Schizophrenia - Has Science got it Wrong?

Schizophrenia is a mental illness that affects the way you think. It affects about 1 in a 100 people, and results in hallucinations and delusional beliefs. Currently, there is no definitive cure. While I was researching this I discovered that the prevalence of smoking among schizophrenics is about three times higher than the healthy population, and this led me to believe some of the changes in the brain supposedly caused by Schizophrenia may actually be a result of heavy smoking instead.

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1. S M O K I N G A N D S C H I Z O P H R E N I A H A S S C I E N C E G O T I T W R O N G ? H A R RY E L L I S O N - W R I G H T
2. T H E B R A I N G R E Y M A T T E R / W H I T E M A T T E R P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F B R A I N H E A LT H . U T D A L L A S . E D U
3. T H E B R A I N G R E Y M A T T E R / W H I T E M A T T E R P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F B R A I N I N J U RY H E L P. C O M
4. M R I S C A N N I N G T H E P R O C E S S P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F P H I L I P S . C O M
5. M R I S C A N N I N G T H E P R O C E S S P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F E N . W I K I P E D I A . O R G
6. S C H I Z O P H R E N I A S M O K I N G A N D P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F W E B M D . C O M
7. ‘ P R E VA L E N C E O F S M O K I N G A M O N G P S Y C H I AT R I C O U T PAT I E N T S ’ H U G H E S E T A L , 1 9 8 6 A M E R I C A N J O U R N A L O F P S Y C H I AT RY ALMOST 90% OF SCHIZOPHRENICS SMOKE P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F B R E AT H E L I F E H E A L I N G C E N T E R S . C O M
8. N O T A S I N G L E S T U D Y O U T O F 1 2 6 6 G R E Y M AT T E R A N A LY S E S O F S C H I Z O P H R E N I A TA K E S T H E I N F L U E N C E O F S M O K I N G I N T O A C C O U N T D ATA E X T R A C T E D F R O M T H E U S N AT I O N A L L I B R A RY O F M E D I C I N E ( P U B M E D ) D ATA B A S E
9. M E TA - A N A LY S I S T H E P R O C E S S P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F M S M R I . C O M
10. M E TA - A N A LY S I S T H E P R O C E S S P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F B R A I N M A P. O R G
11. Statistical Comparison of the Overlap of the Two Meta-Analyses S T E P 3 Meta-Analysis of Multiple Studies Meta-Analysis of Multiple Studies S T E P 2 T I M E L I N E T H E P R O C E S S Schizophrenics vs Healthy Controls Grey Matter Reduction Data * Smokers vs Non Smokers Grey Matter Reduction Data S T E P 1 * ’Anatomy of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: A meta-analysis’ Bullmore Et. Al. 2010, Schizophrenia Research
12. H Y P O T H E S I S • One individual study had previously suggested smoking may be a confounding variable in their own MRI research findings. • ‘Smoking status as a potential confounder in the study of brain structure in schizophrenia.’ Schneider et al. Journal of Psychiatric Research • This research was the first conclusive comparison of meta-analyses.
13. R E S U LT S P H O T O C O U RT E S Y O F W O R L D L I F E E X P E C TA N C Y. C O M
14. R E S U LT S Statistically significant grey matter deficits in schizophrenics are marked in blue Statistically significant grey matter deficits in chronic smokers are marked in yellow Secondary overlap Primary overlap
15. T H A N K Y O U F O R L I S T E N I N G A N Y Q U E S T I O N S ?