Treatment of schizophrenia: preventing the progression of disease.
Atypical antipsychotic drugs offer a number of advantages compared with typical antipsychotic drugs during the acute treatment of psychotic episodes and maintenance treatment to prevent psychotic relapses in patients with schizophrenia. These advantages include superior efficacy, especially for negative symptoms and reduced extrapyramidal adverse effects. Clinicians, however, need to be vigilant regarding new adverse effects that may be more strongly associated with atypical than typical drugs, especially those related to weight gain. Despite increased pill costs for atypical antipsychotic drugs, the overall costs of providing care to patients with schizophrenia using these drugs do not appear to be substantially higher.
Csernansky
John G
JG
Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 660 South Euclid Avenue, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
D000208:Acute Disease; D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000191:economics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D018450:Disease Progression; D006801:Humans; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000517:prevention & control*; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology
D014150:Antipsychotic Agents