Drug therapy

• What are the 2 types of drug therapies used for schizophrenic treatment?

  -Typical

  -Atypical antipsychotics
• How do typical antipsychotics treat schizophrenia?

  -Combat positive symptoms

  -Bind to receptors in mesolimbic pathway but do not stimulate them, decreasing hallucinations and delusions
• How many d2 receptors must be blocked for typical antipsychotics to be effective?

  -60-70%
• What is an example of typical antipsychotics?

  -Chlorpromazine
• How do atypical antipsychotics treat schizophrenia?

  -Temporarily block d2 receptors and then disassociate to allow normal transmission, have strong affinity to serotonin so aids negative symptoms
• How long may it take to see any effects of typical antipsychotics?

  -Several weeks
• What are typical antipsychotics known as?

  -Conventional antipsychotics
• When were typical antipsychotics first developed?

  1950's
• How are dopamine levels related to Parkinsons disease?

  -If we lower dopamine levels too much, sz can develop parkinsons
• Weakness - Not always appropriate

  -Not always appropriate as some sufferers who undertake drug therapy are liable to relapse after drugs have been discontinued

  -Sufferers can also get used to drug therapy, bodies begin to compensate and change so dependency becomes issue

  -Consequence: higher and higher doses are needed
• Strength - Successfully calm effects

  -Most sufferers drugs successfully calm effects, they are also relatively cheap and easy to administer

  -Silverman stated antipsychotics have beneficial side effects for some people in increasing levels of attention and info processing

  -Chlorpromazine has found to be effective in 75% of sz
• Supporting evidence - Daris

  -Supports idea that biological therapies are effective for treatment of sz

  -Analysed 29 studies involving 3519 people

  -Found that patients whose drugs were replaced by placebo were more likely to relapse (55%) than those on actual drug (19%)

  -Suggests drugs are effective for treating sz
• Weakness - Side effects

  -Weight gain, diabetes, sexual dysfunction, insomnia and muscle tremors

  -Most worrying is tardive dyskinesia which is uncontrollable movement to lips, tongue, face, hands and feet

  -30% of people taking medication develop this and its irreversible in 75% of patients