[fragglet]

Hi, I have a couple of questions.

Are blood tests for abnormal dopamine level commonly used to diagnose schizophrenia?

If so, how accurate or reliable are these tests?

How prevalent are they within the medical world?

Are they part of standard diagnostic procedures, like the DSM-IV/DSM-5?

If you have medical qualifications, please include them in your answer.

Thanks

[Sometimes psychotic]

No dopamine is not changed in schizophrenia....it's the target for the meds but actual levels are not changed based on post mortem brain analysis.

[insilence]

They're digging in the wrong place" Indiana Jones ark of the covenant.
Messing with dopamine works temporarily. Schiz is a degenerative illness that tricks both medicine givers and takers and is somewhat intelligent enough to bypass meds altogether

[fragglet]

@Sometimes psychotic

Thanks for the reply. So to clarify:

Suppose that someone had a neurotransmitter test, because they had a family history of Parkinson's disease. They get the test results back and find their dopamine levels are normal, so they're not at risk of Parkinson's.

This result would not also be a negative indicator for schizophrenia?

[Sometimes psychotic]

Originally Posted by fragglet

@Sometimes psychotic

Thanks for the reply. So to clarify:

Suppose that someone had a neurotransmitter test, because they had a family history of Parkinson's disease. They get the test results back and find their dopamine levels are normal, so they're not at risk of Parkinson's.

This result would not also be a negative indicator for schizophrenia?

Right a lot of what is going on in schizophrenia is alterations for the receptors for dopamine or glutamate rather than changes in dopamine or glutamate levels.