View clinical trials related to Psychotic Disorders.
Filter by:The purpose of this study is to explore the impact of ziprasidone on the distribution of metabolic syndrome risk factors in a population of patients presenting with glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia and/or elevated waist circumference associated with their current antipsychotic medication.
The purpose of this study is to assess the impact of three different treatment modalities on panic symptoms, quality of life and use of health services among individuals consulting an emergency department for non cardiac chest pain and having Panic Disorder.
The purpose of this study is to determine if zonisamide SR will prevent weight gain in schizophrenic subjects who take olanzapine (Zyprexa)
This study will investigate adjunctive pregnenolone for cognitive symptoms and negative symptoms in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.
The aim of the proposed pilot study is to find out whether varenicline (ChantixTM) treatment decreases alcohol use and smoking in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. Varenicline may also improve cognition (memory and concentration) and negative symptoms (e.g. poor attention, poverty of speech, apathy, affective flattening, anhedonia) in patients with schizophrenia and comorbid nicotine and alcohol dependence.
This study tests the hypothesis that mifepristone will diminish cognitive distortion and alleviate psychosis in patients with schizoaffective disorder.
In the first year of treatment after a FE of SCZ, 75% to 90% of patients achieve remission from psychotic symptoms. However, approximately 40% of FE patients are non-adherent to medication regimes and more than 60% have intermittent periods of gaps of non-adherence. Relapse rates are high with 82% of patients relapsing at least once within 5 years. Unfortunately even amongst those who do achieve full remission from psychotic symptoms, functional recovery remains a major challenge for patients. All the evidence suggests that individuals with SCZ do best with a combination of pharmacology and psychosocial intervention. Cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is gaining recognition as an effective treatment in SCZ and is in fact the only psychosocial treatment in SCZ with proven durability at short term follow-up. Although it is currently being used, the investigators need to learn more about the impact of CBT on FE SCZ especially as experts are advocating for CBT to be a critical component of FE clinical services.
Since side effects of antipsychotics, dopamine D2 receptor blockers, frequently occur in older patients with schizophrenia and the risk is dose dependent, clinical guidelines universally advocate the use of lower doses. However, there is no report to test this dosing guideline with measurements of D2 receptor blockade caused by antipsychotics. In this study, dopamine D2 receptor occupancy will be measured, using Positron Emission Tomography (PET), in 40 patients aged 50 and older with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders before and after a gradual 40 % dose reduction of antipsychotics that was safely achieved in the past study while setting a target dose still above the lower limit of the dose range recommended in clinical guidelines for older patients. Our goal is to relate changes in clinical outcome, including subjective and objective clinical ratings, to dopamine D2 receptor occupancy, and compare these results with the data for younger patients in the literature.
Anticholinergic antiparkinsonian agents often cause side-effects including cognitive impairment, dry mouth, and constipation while they diminish antipsychotic-induced parkinsonian symptoms. The introduction of second generation antipsychotics (SGA) brought fewer neurological side effects. However, anticholinergic coprescription rates are still as high as 12-65% in patients on SGA that are much higher than the incidence of EPS reported in clinical trials (3-20%). This apparently discrepancy is likely explained, in part, by the established tradition of routine use of this medications. Older patients are particularly sensitive to anticholinergic side-effects due to age-related changes in pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. In this study, we will examine the safety and benefits of reducing the dose of a frequently prescribed anticholinergics, benztropine, on cognitive function, extrapyramidal symptoms, and psychotic symptoms in older subjects with a primary psychotic disorder.
Women with a close relative who has experienced mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or schizoaffective disorder often have a poor understanding of the causes of the illness, and are often very worried about the chance that any children that they have will become affected with the same illness. Often, because of this fear, these healthy women choose not to have children. Genetic counseling is a process where information about the causes of illnesses, and about chances for family members of individuals with these illnesses to become similarly affected is provided in a supportive environment by a specially trained healthcare professional. This study will investigate whether genetic counseling can reduce perceptions of risk and stigma, and increase perceived control and knowledge about the causes of the illness, amongst women who have a first degree relative with a major mental illness.