Biological Treatment

• Typical antipsychotic drugs

  • Typical antipsychotic drugs for schizophrenia work by blocking dopamine receptors 0 they are dopamine antagonists - and are thus strongly associated with the dopamine hypothesis of schizophrenia.
• Typical antipsychotics and side effects

  • Typical antipsychotic drugs, such as chlorpromazine and haloperidol, can cause several side effects. Among the most serious of these side effects are extrapyramidal symptoms, which are problems with movement similar to Parkinson's disease.
• Atypical antipsychotic drugs

  • The aim of atypical antipsychotic drugs is to improve upon the efficacy of typical antipsychotics while reducing side effects. Atypical antipsychotics target several neurotransmitters, not just dopamine. E.g. clozapine is an atypical antipsychotic that acts on the neurotransmitters dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate.
• Atypical antipsychotics and side effects

  • Some evidence suggests atypical antipsychotics are superior to typical antipsychotics. However, atypical antipsychotics also carry a risk of side effects including weight gain, increased risk of heart attack, increased risk of diabetes, and extrapyramidal symptoms
• AO3-supporting evidence

  several studies (Bagnall et al 2003) have found typical and atypical antipsychotics to be more effective than placebo for reducing schizophrenia symptoms
• AO3-side effects

  all antipsychotics carry a risk of side effects to varying degrees. These side effects can range from mild to potentially fatal. Lieberman et al found that 74% of 1342 schizophrenic patients discontinued antipsychotic drug treatment within 18 months due to side effects
• AO3-Meaningless distinction

  A meta-analysis by Leucht et al (2013) found both efficacy and side effects of antipsychotic drugs varied greatly, and that this was equally true of typical and atypical varieties. As such, the authors question whether this distinction between typical and atypical is a medically useful one