Bacteria may play a role in mental illness– www.futurity.org

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Excerpt from www.futurity.org

Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia or another psychotic disorder are three times more likely to have DNA from the pathogen Bartonella in their blood than adults without these disorders, according to a new study.

The work further supports the idea that pathogens—particularly vector-borne pathogens—could play a role in mental illness.

Bartonella are a group of vector-borne bacteria transmitted primarily via arthropods like fleas, lice, and potentially ticks, but also by the animals that harbor them.

For example, the species Bartonella henselae is associated with cat scratch disease, which until recently was thought to be a short-lived (or self-limiting) infection. There are at least 45 different known Bartonella species, of which 18 have been found to infect humans.

Improved methods for detecting Bartonella infection in animals and humans have led to the diagnosis of bartonelloses in patients with a host of chronic illnesses, as well as in some patients with psychiatric symptoms.

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