Abstract:This article reviews the literature on normal brain development and behavioural development in men and women as well as on aetiological risk factors for schizophrenia, such as pre-, peri-and postnatal complications.The male-female comparisons of age and type of onset, symptomatology, course and outcome were based on a population-based sample of 232 first illness episodes -the ABC Schizophrenia Study sample. The probands were assessed using the IRAOS interview and other instruments retrospectively at first admi… Show more
“…The lower prolactin levels in male participants might partially explain their lower ASEX scores and rates of sexual dysfunction. In concordance the research of Häfner (2002) , our study also recorded a higher rate of marriage and partnership among female participants compared with the male participants.…”
The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between prolactin levels and sexual dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia who use olanzapine medication. The potential risk factors of hyperprolactinemia and sexual dysfunction were also investigated. Patients with schizophrenia undergoing olanzapine monotherapy were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were used to evaluate subjective sexual dysfunction and psychopathology, respectively. Levels of prolactin and metabolic parameters were also measured. In total, 279 participants with schizophrenia were recruited. The overall incidences of hyperprolactinemia, sexual dysfunction, and metabolic syndrome were 51.6, 53.8, and 43.7%, respectively. Higher ASEX scores, higher insulin levels, female sex, and younger age were associated with hyperprolactinemia. Prolactin level was significantly correlated with ASEX score. Elevated prolactin levels, concomitant antidepressant, increased insulin resistance, longer illness duration, and female sex were associated with sexual dysfunction. Female participants recorded higher levels of sexual dysfunction than their male counterparts did, whereas male participants had comparatively lower prolactin levels and lower rates of spousal partnership. Hyperprolactinemia, metabolic syndrome, and sexual dysfunction are prevalent in patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine. Clinicians should maintain awareness of these problems and monitor them regularly with their patients.
“…The lower prolactin levels in male participants might partially explain their lower ASEX scores and rates of sexual dysfunction. In concordance the research of Häfner (2002) , our study also recorded a higher rate of marriage and partnership among female participants compared with the male participants.…”
The aim of the study was to assess the relationship between prolactin levels and sexual dysfunction in patients with schizophrenia who use olanzapine medication. The potential risk factors of hyperprolactinemia and sexual dysfunction were also investigated. Patients with schizophrenia undergoing olanzapine monotherapy were invited to participate in this cross-sectional study. The Arizona Sexual Experiences Scale (ASEX) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale were used to evaluate subjective sexual dysfunction and psychopathology, respectively. Levels of prolactin and metabolic parameters were also measured. In total, 279 participants with schizophrenia were recruited. The overall incidences of hyperprolactinemia, sexual dysfunction, and metabolic syndrome were 51.6, 53.8, and 43.7%, respectively. Higher ASEX scores, higher insulin levels, female sex, and younger age were associated with hyperprolactinemia. Prolactin level was significantly correlated with ASEX score. Elevated prolactin levels, concomitant antidepressant, increased insulin resistance, longer illness duration, and female sex were associated with sexual dysfunction. Female participants recorded higher levels of sexual dysfunction than their male counterparts did, whereas male participants had comparatively lower prolactin levels and lower rates of spousal partnership. Hyperprolactinemia, metabolic syndrome, and sexual dysfunction are prevalent in patients with schizophrenia treated with olanzapine. Clinicians should maintain awareness of these problems and monitor them regularly with their patients.
“…In relation to onset of illness, in the ABC first-episode sample with a broad definition of schizophrenia, Häfner [ 51 ], showed that the disorder manifests itself clearly later in women than men, from the first sign of the illness. Women's mean age at first symptom was 25.4 years, 2.9 years higher than men's age.…”
Introduction. To date, few studies have focused on the characterization of clinical phenomenology regarding gender in population at high-risk of psychosis. This paper is an attempt to summarize the findings found in the scientific literature regarding gender differences in high-risk populations, taking into account parameters studied in populations with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, such as incidence, clinical expression, duration of untreated illness (DUI), social functioning, and cognitive impairment prior to full-blown psychosis development. Method. Studies were systematically searched in PubMed. Studies using gender variable as a control variable were excluded. 12 studies met inclusion criteria. Results. Most of the studies found a differential pattern between women and men as regards clinical, social, and cognitive variables in the prodromal phase, with worse performance in men except in cognitive functioning (more severe negative symptoms, worse social functioning, and longer DUI in men). Similar conversion rates over time were found between men and women. Conclusions. Many of the studies analyzed suggest that differences between men and women in the expression of psychosis extend across a continuum, from the subclinical forms of illness to the debut of psychosis. However, the small number of studies and their significant methodological and clinical limitations do not allow for firm conclusions.
“…These two aspects – sex specificity and anomalous asymmetry – are both consistent with, and provide support for, the hypothesis that these structural anomalies are byproducts of an early developmental disturbance. It is a clinical truism that schizophrenia often presents quite differently in men and women, with some even questioning whether they share the same illness (Häfner, 2002). Likewise, the idea that schizophrenia is characterized by a disruption of the normal emergent pattern of cerebral asymmetry, which preferentially alters left hemisphere development (especially of the temporal lobes) and leads to more prominent left hemisphere dysfunction, is a long-standing one for which there is substantial evidence (Crow et al, 1989).…”
Psychosis-risk youths exhibit an array of sexually dimorphic and laterally asymmetric anomalies of the peripheral olfactory system. These are consistent with a developmental disruption primarily affecting male fetuses. These structural biomarkers may enhance the identification of at-risk subjects with poor prognosis, before their clinical trajectory is apparent.
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