Heeled footwear and schizophrenia?

admin · Jul 26, 2006

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While looking for something else, I stumbled on this 2 yr old publication that I had forgotton about:

Is there an association between the use of heeled footwear and schizophrenia?
Medical Hypotheses Volume 63, Issue 4 , 2004, Pages 740-747

Existing etiological and pathogenetical theories of schizophrenia have only been able to find support in some epidemiological, clinical, and pathophysiological facts. A selective literature review and synthesis is used to present a hypothesis that finds support in all facts and is contradicted by none.

Heeled footwear began to be used more than a 1000 years ago, and led to the occurrence of the first cases of schizophrenia. Industrialization of shoe production increased schizophrenia prevalence. Mechanization of the production started in Massachusetts, spread from there to England and Germany, and then to the rest of Western Europe. A remarkable increase in schizophrenia prevalence followed the same pattern. In Baden in Germany the increasing stream of young patients more or less hastily progrediating to a severe state of cognitive impairment made it possible for Kraepelin to delineate dementia praecox as a nosological entity. The patients continued to use heeled shoes after they were admitted to the hospitals and the disease progrediated.

High rates of schizophrenia are found among first-generation immigrants from regions with a warmer climate to regions with a colder climate, where the use of shoes is more common. Still higher rates among second-generation immigrants are caused by the use of shoes during the onset of walking at an age of about 11–12 months. Other findings point to the importance of this in the later development of schizophrenia. A child born in January–March begins to walk in December–March, when it's cold outside and the chances of going barefoot are smaller. They are also smaller in urban settings.

During walking synchronised stimuli from mechanoreceptors in the lower extremities increase activity in cerebello-thalamo-cortico-cerebellar loops through their action on NMDA-receptors. Using heeled shoes leads to weaker stimulation of the loops. Reduced cortical activity changes dopaminergic function which involves the basal ganglia-thalamo-cortical-nigro-basal ganglia loops. Bicycle riding reduces depression in schizophrenia due to stronger stimulation by improved lengthening contractions of the triceps surae muscles. Electrode stimulation of cerebellar loops normally stimulated by mechanoreceptors in the lower extremities could improve functioning in schizophrenia.

Cross-sectional prevalence studies of the association between the use of heeled footwear and schizophrenia should be made in immigrants from regions with a warmer climate or in groups of people who began to wear shoes at different ages.
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Admin2 · Jul 26, 2006

Schizophrenia

Related thread:
Schizophrenia & foot fissures

Simon Spooner · Oct 30, 2007

Shoe heels cause schizophrenia

Sorry if this has been reported already.

Article in the Daily mail newspaper UK:

"not only did shoe makers start a tend that led to generations of women being condemned to wearing high heels, they could also be responsible for the increasing number of cases of schizophrenia. the theory is that heeled shoes may have led to the first cases of the disease and the establishment of mental hospitals.

Researcher Jari Flensmark says that the schizophrenia only appeared after heeled shoes were introduced into a population. The oldest heeled shoe known to man, made over 1,000 years ago, comes from Mesopotamia- the same area where the first institutions dealing with mental disorders appeared. As industrialisation of shoe production spread from North America to Western Europe, there was a remarkable rise in cases of schizophrenia. In england the heeled shoe emerged at the start of the 17th century, and a large increase in mental illness followed. this is compared with Native Americans, who wear flat moccasins and have a relatively low frequency of schizophrenia.

The science? When we walk, the movement stimulates receptors in the lower extremities which increase actvity in brain cells. Wearing heeled shoes weakens the lengthening contractions in the lower leg and foot, so the receptors are stimulated less. This drop in stimulation leads to changes in the dopamine system in the brain. This tallies with the knowledge that schizophrenics' produce more dopamine"

:morning:

Heeled footwear and schizophrenia?

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Heeled footwear and schizophrenia?

admin Administrator Staff Member

Admin2 Administrator Staff Member

Simon Spooner MVP

Wheeled Knee Walker Use following Foot and Ankle Surgery or Injury

Heeled Shoes Increase Knee Work Demand During Repeated Hopping in Dancers

Performers can sing better barefoot than wearing high heeled shoes

High heeled shoe with pronation control system

Influence of high-heeled shoes on venous function

Long-term use of high heeled shoes alters the neuromechanics of human walking

Negative Heeled Shoes... as therapy?!

Share This Page

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