(08/07/06)
A clinical phase III study shows that paliperidone tablets, which release their active contents over an extended time, efficiently stabilize the symptoms in patients with schizophrenia.
Source: Medical News Today, Saturday, July 15, 2006
Read more in article at www.medicalnewstoday.com

(08/06/06)
The antipsychotic drug clozapine is more effective than both olanzapine and haloperidol at reducing aggressive behavior in violent patients with schizophrenia, new research shows. The mechanism behind the drug's ability to curb aggressiveness seems to be separate from the mechanism behind its antipsychotic effect. Hence, judging from the results from the current study, clozapine is a more favorable choice to make violent, schizophrenic patients less aggressive.
Source: Reuters Health Information, Thursday, July 6, and Archives of General Psychiatry, v. 63(6), p. 622-9, 2006
Read more in article at www.monstersandcritics.com
PubMed abstract

(07/19/06)
A group of scientists say a recently discovered small protein in the brain may serve a target in the treatment of schizophrenia.The protein - neuropeptide S, or NPS - is produced by a small cluster of cells in the brainstem, yet its specialized receptors are found in several areas of the brain.
Source: Monsters and Critics, Thursday, June 22, Medical News Today, Saturday, June 24, 2006
Read more in article at www.monstersandcritics.com
Läs mer i artikel på www.medicalnewstoday.com

Early treatment helps schizophrenics (07/17/06)
British scientists say that the faster patients are treated after they start experiencing the symptoms of schizophrenia, the better the outcome. In the study that the suggestion is based on, 200 patients with schizophrenia were followed for two years.
Source: c-Health, Monday, May 29, 2006

No evidence that early episodes of schizophrenia without medication result in long-term harm (03/28/06)
Research now shows that there is no safe evidence that early episodes of schizophrenia without medication result in long-term harm for patients. "The question is whether we should rush to treat early episodes with anti-psychotics before we have a clear diagnosis," says John Bola, one of the researchers in the study.
Source: News-Medical.Net, Thursday, March 23, 2006
Read more in article at www.medical-news.net

Magnetic stimulation in the treatment of schizophrenia (03/13/06)
Researchers at Yale University are currently recruiting patients for a clinical trial in which so-called transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) will be used to help still the voices that some persons with schizophrenia hear in their heads.
Source: myDNA, Saturday, March 11, 2006
Read more in article at www.mydna.com

Early detection key to treatment of schizophrenia (10/20/05)
Early treatment after a first episode of psychosis improves how people with schizophrenia fare in the long term, says a new study. Historically, the view has been that it doesn't matter when you treat a person because their clinical outcome is predetermined, a theory often referred to as the "doomed from the womb" theory. Many psychiatrists still hold this to be true. But more recent studies, including the current one, suggest that early treatment can improve outcome.
Source: ABC Health & Medical News, WRAL.com, Wednesday, October 12, and American Journal of Psychiatry, v. 162(10), p. 1785-804, 2005
Read more in article at abc.net.au
Read more in article at www.wral.com
PubMed abstract

Memory training may help people with schizophrenia lead more normal lives (07/17/05)
Cognitive impairment is one of the symptoms thet may be observed in patients with schizophrenia. Now, a study has demonstrated that people with schizophrenia can be helped to remember things just as well as healthy subjects as long as they are given proper cues and memory aids.
Source: EurekAlert, Tuesday, July 5, 2005
Read more in article at www.eurekalert.org

Specially designed drink increases effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs (06/22/04)
British researchers have developed a special drink that they claim can enhance the effectiveness of medications against schizophrenia. The drink, Tyrodep, contains high levels of amino acids and helps control levels of the substances in the brain which are thought to underlie the illness. The drink also helps alleviate the side effects that are associated with the medications.
Source: BBC News, Saturday, June 19, 2004
Read more in article at news.bbc.co.uk

Electrical stimulation in the treatment of schizophrenia (06/22/04)
A current study suggests that chemical imbalances in the brain that lead to depression, phobias, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and other conditions could be alleviated by direct electrical stimulation to specific areas of the brain.
Source: SignOnSanDiego, Friday, June 18, 2004
Read more in article at www.signonsandiego.com
PubMed abstract

Free radicals may complicate treatment of schizophrenia (03/14/04)
A study shows that cell damage caused by free radicals could be the reason why some people with schizophrenia don't respond to treatment.
Source: Yahoo! News, Wednesday, March 10, 2004
Read more in article at news.yahoo.com

Earlier schizophrenia diagnosis improves treatment (02/28/04)
A study at Yale University shows that detecting and treating schizophrenia rapidly, following the onset of a first psychotic episode, significantly improves the patients' response to treatment.
Source: EurekAlert, Thursday, February 26, and Archives of General Psychiatry, v. 61(2), p. 143-50, 2004
Read more in article at www.eurekalert.org
PubMed abstract

CMV therapy may reduce the symptoms in schizophrenia (12/28/03)
Researchers have shown that supplementary treatment with the oral antiviral valacyclovir reduces symptoms in patients with schizophrenia who also test positive for cytomegalovirus (CMV), a common viral infection that normally does not cause illness.
Source: Reuters, Thursday, December 25, and Am J Psychiatry, v. 160(12), p. 2234-6, 2003
Read more in article at asia.reuters.com
PubMed abstract

EPO may protect against schizophrenia symptoms (12/10/03)
Schizophrenia is known to be associated with a loss of function in certain areas of the brain. Now researchers have hopes that a substance called erythropoietin (EPO) may serve as a protective agent in patients with schizophrenia.
Source: EurekAlert, Wednesday, December 3, 2003
Read more in article at www.eurekalert.com

Estrogen may speed up recovery (06/05/03)
An Australian study shows that schizophrenic patients with symptoms like delusions, hallucinations and thought disorder may recover faster if they are given estrogen together with their antispychotic medications.
Source: The Age, Saturday, May 31, 2003
Read more in article at www.theage.co.uk

Cognitive therapy to treat schizophrenia (02/17/03)
Researchers at the AAAS Annual Meeting in Denver last week described a groundbreaking approach that has led British public health officials to permit the use of cognitive therapy to treat people with schizophrenia. Tests have shown the magnitude of the effect of this therapy is similar to the effects of the antipsychotic medication.
Source: American Association for the Advancement of Science and EurekAlert, Thursday, February 13, 2003
Read more in article at www.eurekalert.org

Magnetic therapy to quiet hallucinations (02/07/03)
Schizophrenics who hear imaginary voices that are not quieted by medication could find some relief in an experimental procedure that directs magnetic waves toward certain brain regions, a study at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut suggests. The findings are published in Archives of General Psychiatry.
Source: Archives of General Psychiatry, v. 60(1), p. 49-56 and Reuters, Thursday, January 30, 2003
Read more in article at www.reutershealth.com
PubMed abstract

Brain scans may detect early signs of psychosis (12/12/02)
In a current study, published in The Lancet medical journal, researchers show that sophisticated scanning techniques may be able to detect changes in areas of the brain, which occur before or while a severe mental disorder is developing. By performing MRI scans on scans the brains of people with a high risk of developing psychosis, the researchers noticed that patients with a psychosis had less gray matter in certain regions of the brain than the control individuals. These regions are known to be associated with social behavior, emotion, memory and attention. The researchers concluded that the observed differences could be early signs of a psychotic disorder. By using MRI scans as a diagnostic tool, patients may be given a chance to receive treatment before symptoms begin, which would help prevent the illness.
Source: The Lancet, and Reuters, Tuesday, December 10, 2002
Read more in article on Yahoo! News
The Lancet homepage

Schizophrenia subtypes may be distinguished by brain measures (10/29/02)
Researchers in the US have found a new method for distinguishing different subtypes of schizophrenia. By testing patients in a learning and memory paradigm while studying brain anatomy and metabolism with different methods, the researchers identified three groups of schizophrenia patients with significantly different profiles. The researchers hope the knowledge about the different subtypes may be helpful in the diagnosis and might allow target-specific treatment.
Source: Neuropsychology, v. 16, s. 481-90 and Health-News, Thursday, October 24, 2002
Read article on Health-News.co.uk

Atypical antipsychotics stimulate growth of cells (07/18/02)
It has been shown previously that long-term treatment with atypical antipsychotics is correlated with an improvement of cognitive behavior in adult rats. Now research indicates that treatment with atypical antipsychotics is associated with an increase in the growth of cells in certain areas of the brain. These findings may lead to the use of atypical antipsychotics in neurodegenerative diseases to stimulate the repair of brain cells.
Source: Journal of Neuroscience Research, vol. 69(1), p. 72-79, 2002
PubMed abstract

Early detection of psychosis (07/07/02)
Current research shows suggest that brain scan techniques like MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) can be used to screen for psychosis before symptoms appear. This means that early detection and even prevention may be possible. Early detection of psychosis could be crucial because early treatment of psychoses gives the patient a chance to recover.
Source: American Journal of Psychiatry, July issue and EurekAlert, July 1, 2002
Read article on EurekAlert

Late-onset schizophrenia found to be a separate condition (04/01/02)
A condition previously diagnosed as late-onset schizophrenia has been found to be a distinct disease. This condition, paraphenia, affects primarily women and disables the affected individual's communication, due to disturbances in the function of the protein tau. The primary role of tau is to link microtubules, a core component of the cellular skeleton that gives the cell its shape and ability to communicate. Late-onset schizophrenia and paraphenia do have several common symptoms, but there are also differences. One of these is that while schizophrenia normally gets worse, paraphrenia typically does not.
Source: Acta Neuropathologica, Vol. 103, p. 313-20 and EurekAlert, March 27, 2002
PubMed abstract
Read article on EurekAlert

Female schizophrenics born in the winter have more negative symptoms (11/28/01)
Gender may play a role in modulating the effect of the season of birth on symptoms of schizophrenia, according to Italian reseachers. For example, the results show that female schizophrenic patients born in the winter and early spring had more negative symptoms compared to females born during the rest of the year. The findings in the study show, in line with previous research, a gender difference in schizophrenia. A new finding is, however, the gender-specific association between season of birth and symptom profile and/or clinical subtype of schizophrenia.
Source: Eur Psychiatry 2001: 16:342-8
Read an abstract

Early detection can shorten duration of untreated psychosis (11/06/01)
More patients can be helped if psychosis is detected at an early stage. Also, the duration of the psychosis can be shortened with early detection. These are the main findings from a recent Norwegian study, based on investigation of 43 patients with usual detection of psychosis and 66 patients with early detection. Both groups consisted of patients with first episodes of DSM-IV schizophrenia spectrum disorders.
According to the authors, two important factors in obtaining the good results are well-orchestrated educational campaigns and early detection teams.
Source: Am J Psychiatry 2001 Nov;158(11):1917-9
Read and abstract of the article

Ten year follow-up of negative symptoms (10/17/01)
Psychotic illnesses have particularly high rates of negative symptoms. However, individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders by and large showed the same phenomenology of negative symptoms as did individuals with other psychotic disorders.

Antipsychotic medications affected the symptoms of patients suffering from schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. The severity of symptoms was related to the dosage of medication.

These are some of the main results from an American study investigating schizophrenia/schizoaffective, other psychotic, and depressed patients over a 10-year follow-up period.
Source: Schizophr Bull 2001;27(3):527-37
Read an abstract of the article

Engaging patients in medical decision making (09/20/01)
Few disagree with the principle that patients ought to be more involved in their own care; it seem to be the right thing according to politics, ethics and research on health services. Research has also shown that expanding involvement of patients in care produces better health outcomes.

The issue seems straight forward, but maybe its is not that easy. A debate has started about the role of patients in making treatment decisions. Three questions dominate: Can patients take a leading role in making decisions? Do they want to? What if doctors and public health professionals don't like their choices?

An overview is presented in the latest issue of British Medical Journal. It is based on twelve articles, derived from a Medical Research Council conference, cover the meaning, mutability, and measurement of patients' preferences regarding treatment. References (including links to Medline abstracts) are presented.

A short answer to the questions above is "Patients do want to be involved in or at least informed about healthier decisions, and the medical profession will adapt- sooner or later."
Source: BMJ 2001;323:584-585 (15 September)
Read the article in BMJ

Nursing homes ownership influence the quality of care (09/03/01)
A new US study by Dr. Charlene Harrington from the University of California, San Francisco, has found that private nursing homes are more likely to provide poor quality care than are non-profit or public facilities.

Harrington and coworkers analyzed data from state inspections of over 13,500 nursing facilities conducted in 1998, excluding facilities with fewer than 16 beds. The researchers identified differences between investor-owned, nonprofit and public facilities. An important finding was that nurse staffing was lower at investor-owned nursing homes.
The authors conclude that "investor-owned nursing homes provide worse care and less nursing care than do not-for-profit or public homes".Source: Am J Public Health 2001 Sep;91(9):1452-1455
Read an abstract of the research article
Read an interview with Dr Harrington at Reuters Health
Read about comparing US nursing homes at Medicare

Combining computer-based training and work therapy improved cognitive function in schizophrenic patients (08/29/01)

A recent US study reports improved performance on neuropsychological tasks in patients with schizophrenia after treatment combining computer-based neurocognitive enhancement therapy and work therapy. The computer-based exercises involved attention, memory, and executive function tasks, while the work therapy involved paid work at medical center sites.

Sixty-five patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were included in the study. The patients were separated into two groups; one treated with a combination of computer-based training and work therapy and the other treated with work therapy alone. Patients receiving the combination therapy showed greater improvements of executive function, working memory, and affect recognition in comparison to the other group.

The authors conclude that the efficacy may result from a synergy between the therapies since computer-based training encourages mental activity while work therapy allows a natural context for mental activity to be exercised, generalized, and reinforced.
Source: Arch Gen Psychiatry 2001;58:763-768.
Read an abstract of the article

Study compares schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (05/30/01)
In an article in Psychiatry Research, the authors used a battery of cognitive and social functioning measures to evaluate stable outpatients with schizophrenia and bipolar I disorder, who were all receiving care at community and rehabilitation programs. The results suggest that individuals with bipolar I disorder receiving community and rehabilitation services have many social and cognitive deficits that are as severe as those in schizophrenia.
PubMed abstract

Review article about the symptoms in schizophrenia (05/18/01)
A review article in the journal Schizophrenia Research (Vol. 49(3), 2001, p 269-285) discusses the symptoms dimensions in schizophrenia, and looks back at the models that have been proposed during the past two decades.
PubMed abstract

Chemical discovery may be key to treatment of brain disorders (05/03/01)
A research group at INSERM, the French equivalent of the National Institutes of Health have found evidence that BDNF (brain-dervied neurotrophic factor), a substance that has for long been known to help brain cells mature and survive, also stimulates brain cells to produce the D3 receptor for the neurotransmitter dopamine. Dopamine is one of the key players in diseases like Parkinson's and schizophrenia.
Abstract on PubMed
Article in Nature Issue 411(6833), p 86-89, 2001
Article on Yahoo! - Reuters (05/02/01)
Article on Yahoo! - AP (05/02/01)

Special issue on schizophrenia in late life (03/27/01)
In the March issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry, a series of articles are presented, concerning schizophrenia in late life.
Read more

Predicting relapse from prodromal symptoms (01/16/01)
Clusters of non-psychotic symptoms and behavioural changes were found to be prodromal to the onset of psychotic symptoms in this retrospective comparison of relapsing versus non-relapsing patients with schizophrenia and healthy subjects attending an outpatient clinic in Cairo, Egypt.
Review of the article , editors Prof S. Montgomery and Prof L. Farde
Reference to the journal article in J Clin Psychiatry 2000;61:729-736.

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