The large body of research demonstrating the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in the treatment of acute schizophrenia is selectively reviewed. Research evidence relevant to the following issues is assessed; indications for selective treatment; characteristics of drug responders and nonresponders; indications for high dosage phenothiazine treatment; indications for maintenance therapy; benef...

The first generation of antipsychotic drugs was discovered in the 1960s and 1970s, These agents were effective in treating psychosis, but were accompanied by significant side effects, including severe parkinsonism and akathisia. Second-generation antipsychotics were introduced in the 1990s, These drugs have at least equal efficacy to their predecessors, but far fewer side effects. Some data sug...

OBJECTIVES This paper gives an overview of studies on the association between dopaminergic neurotransmission and the subjective experience of patients with schizophrenia. METHODS We undertook a review of the literature. RESULTS Dopaminergic neurotransmission may be relevant for subjective experience. Higher striatal D2 receptor occupancy by typical and atypical antipsychotics is related to ...

OBJECTIVE The atypical antipsychotics, risperidone, olanzapine, and quetiapine, have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for treatment of mania associated with bipolar disorder. Information on the relative mental health resource use of these therapies is helpful to pharmacy managers since differences in efficacy and safety may translate into differences in mental health care ...

Before the 1990s, treatment of psychoses centred on conventional agents whose tolerability was limited by extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS). The past decade has seen the emergence of newer generation of antipsychotic agents. These agents provide better negative symptom efficacy, less impaired cognition and lower risk of extrapyramidal syndromes. Aripiprazole, a new atypical antipsychotic drug, disp...

Contemporary thinking about tardive dyskinesia is undergoing a quiet revolution. In the fourth decade following the introduction of neuroleptic medications for the treatment of schizophrenia, tardive dyskinesia research has moved from debates over its very existence to careful, scholarly sub-typing of clinical variants. Investigators are also beginning to elucidate the epidemiology and natural ...

Background: Elevations in serum prolactin levels (hyperprolactinaemia) are a common side effect of conventional antipsychotic treatments. The main objective of this study was to consider the effects of the antipsychotic drug chlorpromazine (CPZ) in female rats reproductive system and to examine the relationship between the effects on reproductive organs and hormone concentrations. Materials and...

Abilify, an atypical antipsychotic, has been the number one prescription drug in America for several years based on dollar-volume. Sales are $6.29 billion per year. But treatment of psychosis is not what made Abilify the top-selling drug in the United States. Abilify is now widely prescribed as an adjunctive drug for depression; and it is prescribed offlabel for many uses. The manufacturer says...

Between one-third and one-half of the individuals who meet diagnostic criteria for schizophrenia remain actively ill despite optimal pharmacological treatment. These individuals tend to progressively deteriorate in terms of social and vocational functioning despite major public and private investments in their rehabilitation. For patients who do not respond to the first prescribed antipsychotic...

BACKGROUND Surveys on prescription patterns for antipsychotics in the Scandinavian public health system are scarce despite the prevalent use of these drugs. The clinical differences between antipsychotic drugs are mainly in the areas of safety and tolerability, and international guidelines for the treatment of schizophrenia offer rational strategies to minimize the burden of side effects relate...