The Mailer Review/Volume 4, 2010/Norman Mailer: From Orgone Accumulator to Cancer Protection for Schizophrenics: Difference between revisions
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An estimated two million Americans have schizophrenia, a biological condition that affects a person’s ability to think clearly, distinguish reality from fantasy, manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others. The World Health Organization has identified schizophrenia as one of the ten most debilitating diseases affecting humans. The fact that those who suffer from schizophrenia are a population of very heavy smokers (up to 88%) would lead one to expect that they had a high incidence of cancer{{sfn|Hughes|Hatsukami|Mitchell|Dahlgren|1986|p=995}} However, the opposite is true. Norman Mailer believed that their mental illness protected them. | An estimated two million Americans have schizophrenia, a biological condition that affects a person’s ability to think clearly, distinguish reality from fantasy, manage emotions, make decisions, and relate to others. The World Health Organization has identified schizophrenia as one of the ten most debilitating diseases affecting humans. The fact that those who suffer from schizophrenia are a population of very heavy smokers (up to 88%) would lead one to expect that they had a high incidence of cancer{{sfn|Hughes|Hatsukami|Mitchell|Dahlgren|1986|p=995}} However, the opposite is true. Norman Mailer believed that their mental illness protected them. | ||
Researchers at National Institutes of Mental Health emphasize that many of the genes associated with schizophrenia are the same as those that are associated with cancer, but the disorders use them in opposite ways. While cancer results from changes in the genes that cause the cells to go into {{pg|448|449}} overdrive and multiply rapidly, the same genes cause cells in schizophrenia to slow to a crawl. | Researchers at National Institutes of Mental Health emphasize that many of the genes associated with schizophrenia are the same as those that are associated with cancer, but the disorders use them in opposite ways. While cancer results from changes in the genes that cause the cells to go into {{pg|448|449}} overdrive and multiply rapidly, the same genes cause cells in schizophrenia to slow to a crawl. | ||
Dr. Amanda Law of the University of Oxford, who heads a team at National Institutes of Mental Health, explored specific pathways that cells use to make basic decisions about their development and their fate. She says,<blockquote>“This is about basic decision making by cells—whether to multiply, move, or change their basic architecture....Cancer and schizophrenia may be strange bedfellows that have similarities at the molecular level. The differences lie in how cells respond to external stimuli: in cancer the molecular system functions to | Dr. Amanda Law of the University of Oxford, who heads a team at National Institutes of Mental Health, explored specific pathways that cells use to make basic decisions about their development and their fate. She says, | ||
<blockquote>“This is about basic decision making by cells—whether to multiply, move, or change their basic architecture....Cancer and schizophrenia may be strange bedfellows that have similarities at the molecular level. The differences lie in how cells respond to external stimuli: in cancer the molecular system functions to | |||
speed up the cell and in schizophrenia the system is altered in such a way that causes the cell to slow down.” {{sfn|Genetics|2007}}</blockquote> | speed up the cell and in schizophrenia the system is altered in such a way that causes the cell to slow down.” {{sfn|Genetics|2007}}</blockquote> | ||