View clinical trials related to Psychotic Disorders.
Filter by:It is hypothesized that the atypical antipsychotic, Seroquel, will cause significant reduction in drug and alcohol cravings in patients with schizophrenia and comorbid cocaine and/methamphetamine dependence compared to the atypical antipsychotic, risperidone (Risperdal). Patients treated with Seroquel will have less use of cocaine and/or methamphetamine as measured by the Time Line Follow-back, over a 24-week follow-up period.
To investigate the 'estrogen-protection' hypothesis by comparing changes in psychotic symptoms between one group of patients receiving standard antipsychotic drug treatment plus placebo and a second matched group receiving standard antipsychotic drug treatment plus 100microgram estradiol patch in a double blind controlled trial. Hypothesis : That the women receiving adjunctive estradiol will demonstrate a more rapid and more substantial decrease in psychotic symptoms over the course of the study than the women receiving adjunctive placebo.
The aim of the project is to investigate the use of raloxifene (a new form of estrogen) as a treatment for schizophrenia in postmenopausal women. Raloxifene is a selective estrogen receptor modulator (SERM) which means that it can affect the central nervous system effects of estrogen (eg: improving emotional symptoms, memory, information processing and concentration), without adversely affecting reproductive tissue / organs such as breast, uterus and ovaries.We are conducting a double blind placebo controlled 3 month duration study comparing the psychotic symptom response between three groups of postmenopausal women with schizophrenia. One group will receive standard antipsychotic medication plus 60mg Raloxifene, the second group receives standard antipsychotic medication plus Hormone Therapy(estradiol 2mg oral per day + dyhydroprogesterone 10mg oral per day) and the third group receives standard antipsychotic medication plus oral placebo. Hypothesis 1: That the women receiving adjunctive raloxifene or HT would have a quicker recovery from psychotic symptoms, as measured on the rating scales, compared with the women receiving adjunctive placebo.Hypothesis 2: That the Raloxifene group would have better cognitive improvement than the other two groups.
OBJECTIVE: To test the use of two adjunctive hormonal agents in a 28 day three-arm, double-blind, placebo-controlled study in the treatment of acute mania/hypomania. HYPOTHESIS: That women receiving adjunctive Tamoxifen or Progesterone will demonstrate a more rapid and more substantial decrease in manic symptoms over the course of the study than women receiving adjunctive placebo. STUDY POPULATION: Sixty females with a current diagnosis of Bipolar Affective Disorder or Schizoaffective disorder - Manic Phase, according to the operationalised criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual, 4th edition (DSM-IV) of the American Psychiatric Association. STUDY MEDICATION: Tamoxifen. One third of patients (twenty) will be randomized to receive adjunctive Tamoxifen at 40 mg/day for 28 days. The Tamoxifen will be administered within a plain capsule to maintain "blinding" of treatment arm. Progesterone. One third of patients (twenty) will be randomized to receive adjunctive oral Provera (progesterone) at 20 mg/day. The Progesterone will be administered within a plain capsule identical to that used with Tamoxifen. Placebo. The remaining one third of patients will be randomized to receive adjunctive placebo (inert substance). The placebo substance will be administered within a plain capsule identical to that used with Tamoxifen and Progesterone. STUDY EVALUATIONS: Data will be collected over a 28-day period for each patient. Visits will be performed at baseline, and then at weekly intervals. A total of five visits will be completed for each patient. The following evaluations will be performed: - Psychiatric evaluation to determine diagnosis. (Baseline visit only) - General clinical evaluation including medical history, current conditions and a non-invasive physical examination, body weight, vital signs. (Baseline visit only) - Medication history (baseline and evaluation visits). - Demographics (baseline visits only). - Completion of clinical rating scales; CARS-M, PANSS, MADRS, AIMS, Barnes Akathisia scale (BA), and Simpson-Angus scale (SA) (baseline and evaluation visits). A Menstrual Cycle Interview and a cognitive assessment (RBANS) will be performed at baseline and endpoint (day 28) visit. - Laboratory tests including; Serum levels of mood stabilizer, luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), Estrogen, Progesterone, Prolactin, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), Testosterone and protein kinase C(PKC) (baseline and evaluation visits). - Inclusion/exclusion checklist (baseline visit only). - Informed consent (baseline visit only).
This Phase IV, randomized, parallel-group study is designed to evaluate the cataractogenic potential of quetiapine fumarate (SEROQUEL) compared with that of a putative non-cataractogenic antipsychotic medication risperidone (RISPERDAL). This study is being conducted to fulfill the SEROQUEL Phase IV commitment regarding evaluation of cataractogenic potential.
Ketamine, an FDA approved anesthetic agent, is becoming the sedative/analgesic of choice for emergency sedation in children because it causes deep sedation with minimal respiratory depression in comparison to other available agents. However, emergence reactions are an important adverse effect of ketamine, characterized by transient changes in cognitive function, dissociation and mild schizophrenia-like symptoms. These cognitive and behavioral effects are dose-dependently induced by ketamine and other antagonists of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) glutamate receptor. NMDA receptor hypofunction can disinhibit excitatory (cholinergic/glutamatergic) projections in key areas of the brain, and this has been proposed to explain key features of schizophrenia. Several treatments that block excessive excitatory transmitter release have also been shown to prevent cognitive and behavioral effects of ketamine-induced NMDA receptor hypofunction in humans. Alpha-2 adrenergic agonists, which can presynaptically inhibit acetylcholine release, can prevent mild ketamine-induced behavioral and cognitive symptoms in healthy human adults. However, this prevention strategy has not been evaluated in children. Children currently receive clinically-indicated treatment with the NMDA antagonist, ketamine, and this age group is an important target for pharmacological strategies aimed at the prevention of schizophrenia. This application proposes a double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial to test the safety and effectiveness of dexmedetomidine, an FDA approved alpha-2 adrenergic agonist, in preventing ketamine-induced mental symptoms in children. Planned primary analyses will evaluate effects of the hypothesized prevention treatment on clinical and cognitive variables using analysis of variance (ANOVA). The proposed experiments are relevant to future prevention trials for individuals at risk for schizophrenia, and to preventing adverse effects of NMDA antagonist anesthetic agents (ketamine, nitrous oxide).
The purpose of this randomized controlled trial is to develop a cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for persons with at risk mental states in the early initial prodromal state and to evaluate CBT in comparison to supportive counselling (SC).It is hypothesized that CBT is more effective than SC on transition to subthreshold psychosis, psychosis and schizophrenia as well as on prodromal symptoms and social adjustment.
The study will provide an empirical basis for a pharmacological treatment option. An open-label, randomized, multi-centre parallel group design is used. An intensified clinical management (CM), which allows needs-based psychological crisis intervention, is compared to a combination of such a CM and the atypical neuroleptic amisulpride. The central hypothesis is that the combination of a clinical management with an atypical neuroleptic is the superior treatment.
This study investigates the neuroprotective properties of low-dose lithium in young individuals at ultra-high risk of developping a first psychotic episode. Fourty individuals having some symptoms of an emerging psychotic disorders (without meeting the threshold for a full-blown mental illness) will be treated with a low dose of lithium (about a third of the dose that is usually used to treat acute mania). We will assess the progression of the conditions of these individuals on a montly bases for a year. We will do behavioural, cognitive and imaging assessments prior start of the treatment, after three months and one year. We hope to demonstrate that low dose lithium will stop or even reverse the progression of disease. We expect that behavioral, cognitive and in vivo brain imaging parameters in those individuals treated with low dose lithium improve, compared to the monitoring group.
Aim: In a population of first episode manic patients with psychotic features, we want to compare the side effect profile, the degree of adherence and the subjective well being, as well as the efficacy of two treatments: The standard treatment currently applied (lithium + chlorpromazine) and an alternative treatment more recently introduced (lithium + olanzapine). In addition, we want to study retrospectively the development of bipolar disorder and study prospectively the 6 and 12-month outcome of a cohort of patients presenting a first manic episode with psychotic features. Research Background: While the efficacy of lithium in the treatment of acute mania has been established by numerous studies, it is also known that up to 50% of the patients fail to respond when it is prescribed alone. It is therefore common practice to complement the treatment, most commonly with antipsychotics and benzodiazepines. It has been suggested that antipsychotic agents are faster acting and are superior in controlling hyperactivity compared to lithium, whereas mood stabilisation is better achieved by lithium, Typical antipsychotics, such as chlorpromazine, may therefore be useful as adjunctive medication to mood stabilisers, especially within the first few weeks of treatment of acute mania, and for patients exhibiting psychotic symptoms or hyperactivity. They however can induce side effects (somnolence, dizziness, dry mouth, extrapyramidal side effects such as rigidity of the muscles, and possibly tardive dyskinesia (involuntary movements or contraction of muscles), as well as akathysia (sense of restlessness). They finally have been suspected to contribute to the occurrence of post-manic depression. Recent publications in chronic populations have shown that atypical antipsychotics, such as olanzapine, are also an effective adjunctive treatment. Olanzapine has the important advantage to induce a very low incidence of extrapyramidal side effects, including tardive dyskinesia. It can however induce somnolence, dizziness, dry mouth, and rather commonly weight gain. Moreover, some authors have reported that olanzapine might induce mania. Both treatments appear then to have positive effects as well as undesirable side effects. Our project is to compare them. The literature concerning first episode mania is sparse, particularly in the domain of pharmacotherapy. One retrospective study showed that 77% of the patients received antipsychotics at discharge and 25% at 6 months follow-up. No comparison has however been made between typical and atypical antipsychotics, and there are no specific treatment guidelines of first episode mania with psychotic features. Project Summary: The hypothesis is that olanzapine and chlorpromazine will have a comparable efficacy as adjunctive treatment of the acute manic episode with psychotic features. We however think olanzapine will induce less side effects and will be better accepted by the patients, and therefore that the adherence to the treatment will be better than with chlorpromazine. We finally think the subjective sense of well being will be greater with olanzapine than with chlorpromazine.We will recruit 75 patients at the time of their first admission for mania with psychotic features at EPPIC. After signature of the informed consent, we will perform a baseline assessment first to confirm the diagnosis, and second to evaluate the level of psychopathology. The patients will then be randomly selected to receive either a treatment of lithium and olanzapine or a treatment of lithium and chlorpromazine. By the end of the study there will be 37 patients in each group.The patients will go through a baseline assessment including physical examination and usual laboratory investigation to exclude any physical illness. They will also go through a one-hour assessment of psychopathology. Between day 2 and 3 they will go through 2 hours of interview to reassess diagnosis and personal history. They will thereafter be assessed weekly for eight weeks on various dimensions: evolution of the intensity of the symptoms, appearance of depressive symptoms, occurrence of side effects and degree of adherence to the treatment, in an 1-hour interview. Subjective well being and quality of life will re evaluated at week 4 and 8, adding 45 minutes to the duration of the interview. This is a flexible dose, open trial, which means the doctor in charge of the patient will know which medication is being prescribed, and that he will be allowed to adapt the dosage according to what he feels necessary. This research project will allow us to organise a more specialised clinic for the care of first episode manic patients. We will take this opportunity to study carefully the months preceding the appearance of the first episode in order to try to reconstruct the prodrome of bipolar disorders. We will also, in an extension phase of the study, look at the long term outcome (at 6 and 12 months) of a first episode of mania.