A new finding targeted to ease the process of diagnosing and treating, researchers have found that excessive production of a specific gene type could be an indication of onset of mental illness in women or female patients.
Gene XIST is the gene which inactivates one of the copies of X chromosomes present in cells that carries genetic materials. This gene works overtime in women who are mentally ill like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, depression, to name a few.
Excessive production of XIST and genes from X chromosomes that got inactive are indications that a woman is developing psychiatric disorders.
It is claimed that the abnormal activity of X chromosome when reversed will be of help in treating patients out of their mental illness.
This study was conducted in female patients on their 60 lymphoblastoid cell illness. Almost all of these women had a family history of such mental illness. Nearly 50 per cent of the participants were found to have excessive XIST levels and other genes associated with X chromosomes.
The lead author also pointed out that large subpopulation of psychiatric patients present in the general population have malfunctioning in their X chromosome