Therapeutic goal and pharmacotherapy according to clinical stages of schizophrenia].

Schizophrenia is chronically progressed disease with a functional decline and adequate treatment is needed for respective clinical stages. Duration of psychosis before treatment is called DUP (duration of untreated psychosis) and may be an important predictor of outcome. Furthermore, the early phase of schizophrenia including DUP is considered a critical period, in which long-term outcome is predictable. Therefore, that shows the importance of early detection and intervention for schizophrenia and relapse prevention during a critical period. The atypical antipsychotics now play the leading role in pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia. They clearly decrease adverse effects, and may prevent the relapse and improve long-term outcome. However, better pharmacotherapy needs the viewpoint of adherence and we do not have to remember the importance of psychosocial therapy.

Citation

Koichi Furuhashi, Nakao Iwata. Therapeutic goal and pharmacotherapy according to clinical stages of schizophrenia]. Nihon rinsho. Japanese journal of clinical medicine. 2013 Apr;71(4):635-40

Mesh Tags

Substances

PMID: 23678592

search → result