View clinical trials related to Schizoaffective Disorder.
Filter by:The goal of the project is to characterize abnormalities in brain structure and function related to schizophrenia. The investigators will use advanced magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques to measure the degree and distribution of neuronal activity during specific cognitive tasks, alterations in neuronal connectivity, and how these are related to disease symptoms and treatment.
Weight gain associated with antipsychotic medication use is a major side effect that limits the tolerability of these drugs. This often significant weight gain adversely affects health, increasing risks for developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, cancers of the colon, kidneys, uterus, endometrium and esophagus and osteoarthritis. Beasley and colleagues (1997) reported that 40.5% of olanzapine-treated patients gained more than 7% of baseline weight. Much of the olanzapine induced weight gain occurs early in treatment, and antipsychotic-naïve and young patients (Woods et al., 2002) are particularly vulnerable to this side effect. One of the most promising medications to aid weight loss in patients taking olanzapine is amantadine. Attempts at preventing weight gain are expected to be more successful than attempts to reverse it once it occurs. It is now common clinical practice to educate all patients beginning treatment with olanzapine, and other antipsychotics, about healthy eating and the need for exercise. However, despite this effort, weight gain in this population continues. Beginning a weight-stabilizing medication after a low threshold of weight gain has occurred may have significant impact on patients' health and their willingness to continue to take antipsychotics. We propose to investigate the efficacy of amantadine as a weight-stabilizing agent in a population of first-episode psychotic subjects just beginning treatment with antipsychotic agents. This population is generally young and medically healthy, without contraindications to amantadine. They are often of normal body mass index and without obesity-related medical problems. They have much to gain in preventing the weight gain which so often progresses steadily over the course of treatment, is difficult to reverse and results in significant morbidity and mortality. Additionally, the first episode psychotic population tends to take fewer concomitant psychiatric medications. This is important since these medications may cause weight gain (long term use of mirtazapine, lithium, depakote) or weight loss (short term use of SSRI's) which could confound the effectiveness of amantadine to combat weight gain.
To evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of aripiprazole in the treatment of acutely relapsed patients with diagnoses of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder with risperidone as an active control.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of a long-acting injectable formulation of risperidone (an antipsychotic medication) and its influence on quality of life, in participants with schizophrenia (psychiatric disorder with symptoms of emotional instability, detachment from reality, often with delusions and hallucinations, and withdrawal into the self).
Many persons with schizophrenia have difficulty getting and keeping a job. This study is designed to compare the benefits of four sessions of motivational interviewing or illness education in increasing employment rates accruing from participation in supported employment.
The purpose of the study is to compare the time to relapse in patients with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorders receiving risperidone or haloperidol (antipsychotic medications) for at least 1 year.
The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness, safety and tolerability of risperidone long-acting injection (LAI) versus oral antipsychotics in participants with recent onset psychosis (abnormal thinking and/or hallucinations).
This study will examine the effectiveness of D-serine in increasing and sustaining the benefits of cognitive retraining in people with schizophrenia.
This study is based on the hypothesis that by increasing N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor function in the brain and thereby increasing the capacity of the brain to both form new connections and strengthen existing connections, schizophrenic patients may derive both greater and sustained benefit from cognitive retraining.
The primary purpose of this project is to evaluate the efficacy of a group therapy intervention, cognitive behavioral social skills training (CBSST), that teaches social functioning skills and cognitive-behavioral compensatory aids to older patients with schizophrenia. CBSST, therefore, targets the multidimensional deficits that lead to disability in aging veterans with severe mental illness.