Schizophrenia therapy

Kavanagh DJ, McGrath J, Saunders JB, Dore G Clark D (2002). Substance misuse in patients with schizophrenia. Therapy in Practice, 62, 743-55... 

WehnertA. 1998. The European Post-marketing observational Serdolect (EPOS) project increasing our understanding of schizophrenia therapy . Int. Clin. Psychopharmacol. 13(Suppl. 3) S27—S30. 

The discovery of the activity of the phenothiazines such as chlorpromazine (44) against schizophrenia pointed the way to drug therapy of diseases of the mind. The intensive... 

Your patient is prescribed clozapine for schizophrenia that has not responded to other drugs. You must discuss this new therapy with the family. Discuss what points to include in this family teaching session. 

Evins AE, Mays VK, Rigotti NA, et al A pilot trial of bupropion added to cognitive behavioral therapy for smoking cessation in schizophrenia. Nicotine Tob Res 3 397-M03, 2001... 

Albright PS, Livingstone S, Keegan DL (1996). Reduction of healthcare resource utilisation and costs following the use of risperidone for patients with schizophrenia previously treated with standard antipsychotic therapy a retrospective analysis using the Saskatchewan Health Linkable Databases. Clin Drug Invest 11,289-99. 

Davies LM, Drummond MF (1993). Assessment of costs and benefits of drug therapy for treatment-resistant schizophrenia in the United Kingdom. Br JPsychiatry 162, 38-42. 

Jonsson D, WSlinder J (1995). Cost-effectiveness of clozapine treatment in therapy-refractory schizophrenia. Aaa Psychiatr Scand l 199-201. 

Cookson JC, Sachs GS (1999). Lithium clinical use in mania and prophylaxis of affective disorders. In Buckley PF, Waddington JL, eds, Schizophrenia and Mood Disorders The New Drug Therapies in Clinical Practice. Oxford Butterworth Heinemann. 

In 1952 reserpine, an alkaloid extract from the Indian snakewort plant, Rauwolfia serpentina, which had been used in that country to treat madness , was first tried in schizophrenia. The beneficial impact on patients and the hospital wards was dramatic, as was that a year later of chlorpromazine, a phenothiazine derivative and haloperidol, a butyrophenone. These latter two drugs and closely related derivatives remained the mainstay of therapy for almost 40 years. 

Since early detection and intervention in schizophrenia is important for maximizing outcomes, treatment with antipsychotic medications should begin as soon as psychotic symptoms are recognized. Antipsychotic medications are the cornerstone of therapy for people with schizophrenia, and most patients are on lifelong therapy since non-adherence and discontinuation of antipsychotics are associated with high relapse rates. If other symptoms are present such as depression and anxiety, these symptoms should also be aggressively treated. Additionally, psychosocial treatments should be used concomitantly to improve patient outcomes. 

Voruganti, L. N. P. 8t Awad, A. G. (2002). Personal evaluation of transitions in treatment (PETiT) a scale to measure subjective aspects of antipsychotic drug therapy in schizophrenia. Schizophr. Res., 56, 37-46. 

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