Schizophrenia
« Previous EntriesFDA approves use of Invega in schizophrenic adolescents
Friday, April 29th, 2011Invega (paliperidone), a drug from Johnson & Johnson, has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of schizophrenia in patients in the age group of 12-17. The approval came following a six-week randomized clinical study that was double-blind and placebo-controlled.
During the study a fixed dose of Invega was administered [...]
Early treatment reduces risk for second psychotic episode
Thursday, February 3rd, 2011Source: MedWire News
Early treatment is associated with a significantly reduced risk for further psychotic episodes in first-episode psychosis (FEP) patients, research shows.
The findings emphasize “the importance of early intervention efforts which are likely to improve the long-term course of psychosis - beyond the level that would be accomplished by similar interventions initiated later - by [...]
Serious mental illness increases mortality risk in diabetes patients
Thursday, October 7th, 2010Patients with diabetes and schizophrenia or bipolar disorder have significantly higher mortality rates than those with diabetes alone, researchers have found.
Previous studies have shown that individuals with serious mental illnesses have higher mortality rates than the general population, explain Yana Vinogradova (University of Nottingham, UK) and colleagues in the British Journal of Psychiatry.
But they add that [...]
Antipsychotic switching prevalent in schizophrenia
Thursday, September 30th, 2010Antipsychotic switching is common in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia and can be predicted by a small number of variables, researchers have found.
Writing in the journal BMC Psychiatry, Haya Ascher-Svanum (Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA) and team explain that antipsychotic medications are the mainstay of schizophrenia treatment, but some patients may need to [...]
Combination therapy benefits early-stage schizophrenia patients
Sunday, September 12th, 2010Psychosocial therapy combined with antipsychotic treatment improves medication adherence, insight, quality of life, and social functioning, and reduces relapse risk in patients with early-stage schizophrenia compared with antipsychotic treatment alone, research shows.
“Antipsychotic drugs have been shown to be effective against psychotic symptoms, and they are now the mainstay of therapy for patients with schizophrenia,” explain [...]
Untreated psychosis duration predicts non-remission
Thursday, August 19th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Duration of untreated psychosis (DUP) predicts short- and long-term failure to achieve remission in first-episode psychosis patients, researchers have found.
“Non-remission of positive psychotic symptoms is quite common in first-episode, non-affective psychosis,” explain Erik Simonsen (University of Copenhagen, Denmark) and team.
To investigate factors associated with failure to achieve remission in first-episode psychosis, the researchers [...]
Family history impacts onset and presentation of schizophrenia
Monday, July 26th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Schizophrenia patients with a family history of psychosis tend to have an earlier age of onset and more severe negative symptoms than their peers with no such history, show results from a meta-analysis.
However, “the most compelling” finding of the study was the interaction between family history and gender which provides an “insight into [...]
Psychotic patients have enhanced sensitivity to cannabis
Sunday, July 11th, 2010Patients with psychosis are more susceptible to the effects of cannabis than mentally healthy controls, showing pronounced mood enhancement and hallucinatory experiences after use, study results show.
Among patients, mood enhancement after cannabis use was only acute, while the hallucinatory effects were more lasting.
Cécile Henquet (Maastricht University Medical Centre, The Netherlands) and colleagues say that this [...]
Dietary factors may protect against psychotic-like symptoms
Friday, June 25th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Women with a high intake of fish, omega-3 or omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids, and vitamin D may have a lower risk for psychotic-like symptoms, suggests research.
“The biological mechanisms underlying the etiology of schizophrenia and psychotic symptoms are largely unknown. Genetic constitution is important, but environmental factors like an unhealthy lifestyle with a poor [...]
Medication nonadherence in schizophrenia linked to suicide risk
Tuesday, April 20th, 2010Source: MedWire News
Poor adherence to antipsychotic drugs in outpatients with schizophrenia can be predicted by current alcohol and substance abuse and a history of previous nonadherence, among other factors, researchers report.
Patients who reported poor medication adherence were at increased risk for relapse, hospitalization, and suicide attempts – a largely unexplored consequence of nonadherence.
“Greater understanding of [...]
