child. Scientists have asked if there is a particular nationality that suffers more than any other. Studies have been done in Ireland and it appears that one in every twenty-five people show signs of schizophrenia, opposed to one in every hundred in the United States. E. Fuller Torrey has spent a great deal of time researching a number of schizophrenics in Ireland. Torrey has discovered that the population of schizophrenics has been rising since the 18th century. After he making his finding public, other scientists began asking questions as to why the Irish are suffering so badly. The basis of their research has focused around their diet, mainly potatoes. If potatoes are exposed to too much sunlight they produce and alkaloid called solanine. Solanine has the ability to induce gastro-intestinal problems and psychotic symptoms such as hallucinations. The idea that schizophrenia in Ireland is cause by the potato is not as far fetched as people mght believe. Closer to home, a mental disease that afflicted southerners, pellagra, was caused solely from the lack of the vitamin niacin. This may lead us to believe that mental disorder can be caused by too much exposure or lack of a certain type of food. Another possibility, is the amount of insecticides the Irish consume from the potato. At planting time farmers use high amounts of chemicals on their potatoes to protect them from insects. When an insect ingests the chemicals they are easily killed because the chemicals interfere with the normal functioning of the nervous system by disrupting the transmission of nerve impulses. If large doses of these chemicals have the same affect on humans as they do on insects this could answer the Irish dilemma. These toxins could be especially dangerous to women who are pregnant by damaging the fetal nerve tissue. Despite all these theories, it is quite evident that the cause of schizophrenia is still a mystery. It also seems clear that th...
