Discontinuation of antipsychotic therapy has been a significant clinical issue among patients with schizophrenia, since the patients who discontinued antipsychotic treatment showed worse clinical and functional outcomes, and higher risks of relapse of schizophrenia symptoms and hospitalization. We conducted a post-hoc analysis of a post-marketing research with a 12-month follow-up period to ide...

A large proportion of individuals with schizophrenia show an inadequate response to treatment with antipsychotics. It can be unclear whether this is secondary to subtherapeutic antipsychotic plasma levels or to medication ineffectiveness. The purpose of the present study was to determine the extent of subtherapeutic antipsychotic plasma levels in a group of patients clinically identified as tre...

Acute pancreatitis with antipsychotic treatment is rare but sometimes causes a fatal adverse effect. Most cases of acute pancreatitis due to atypical antipsychotic agents are reported to occur within six months of starting antipsychotic administration. Acute pancreatitis caused by risperidone is rare. The patient had a high fever, stomachache and vomiting. The results of the abdominal computed ...

Advances in the biological sciences have dramatically improved the understanding of schizophrenia and related psychotic illnesses. One of the most compelling findings is the substantial degree to which cognition is impaired in these illnesses and the remedial effects that antipsychotic drugs have in treating these cognitive impairments. Despite these promising discoveries, legal cases and schol...

Antipsychotic drugs temper psychotic symptoms by interacting with dopamine D2 receptors to reduce neurotransmission. Currently, the standard of care involves antipsychotic treatment protocols that achieve steady-state levels medication. Maintaining patients on continuous is thought be necessary keep them stabilised. However, exposure increases risk adverse effects over time. These include metab...

Antipsychotics often lose efficacy in patients despite chronic continuous treatment. Why this occurs is not known. It is known, however, that withdrawal from chronic antipsychotic treatment induces behavioral dopaminergic supersensitivity in animals. How this emerging supersensitivity might interact with ongoing treatment has never been assessed. Therefore, we asked whether dopamine supersensit...

BACKGROUND Despite little evidence to support its use and practice guidelines discouraging the practice, antipsychotic polypharmacy is widely prevalent in schizophrenia. This randomized controlled trial studied the effects of switching patients stable on two antipsychotic medications to one antipsychotic medication. METHOD 104 adult outpatients with schizophrenia from 7 community mental healt...

BACKGROUND Despite frequent use, little is known about the metabolic and endocrine side-effects of antipsychotics in individuals with intellectual disability. AIMS To compare indices of obesity, glucose, lipids and prolactin between antipsychotic-treated and antipsychotic-naive individuals with intellectual disability and also between participants with intellectual disability and controls fro...

BACKGROUND Behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) are known predictors of institutionalization, lower quality of life, and caregiver distress. Guidelines recommend initial management with non-pharmacological means, but antipsychotic drugs are widely used for the treatment of certain BPSD. OBJECTIVES The objective of the current study is to analyze the prevalence of BPSD and ...