3. Biological Therapies for Schizophrenia - Part 2

What did Thornley et al. (2003) find in their review of data from 13 trials regarding the effectiveness of chlorpromazine?

• It was no as effective as clozapine

• It was not effective in reducing symptom severity

• It had severe side effects

• It was associated with better functioning and reduced symptom severity compared with a placebo

What is a serious side effect associated with typical antipsychotics?

• Tardive dyskinesia

• Decreased energy levels

• Agranulocytosis

• Weight gain

What is the newer dopamine hypothesis regarding the role of dopamine in schizophrenia?

• Symptoms result from high levels of subcortical dopaminergic activity

• Hypodopaminergia occurs in the prefrontal cortex

• Dopamine is reduced in the basal ganglia

• Hyperdopaminergia occurs in the prefrontal cortex

What ethical issue is associated with the use of antipsychotic medication?

• The benefits of medication outweigh the side effects

• The cost of medication is very high

• Patients may not be capable of giving informed consent

• Patients experience less side effects on atypical antipsychotics

What is a key clinical advantage of atypical antipsychotics compared to typical antipsychotics?

• They are more affordable

• Atypical antipsychotics

  are more effective than typical antipsychotics

• Atypical antipsychotics bind to a broader range of neurotransmitter receptors

• Patients experience fewer side effects related to high D2 blockade

What did the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness (CATIE) study find regarding the continuation of antipsychotic medication over an 18 month period?

• Only 26% of patients continued taking the medication over 18 months

• Only 26% of patients discontinued the medication over 18 months

• All patients experienced severe side effects within 18 months

• 26% of patients experienced no side effects during 18 months

What is the most effective overall antipsychotic according to the CATIE study?

• Clozapine

• Ziprasidone

• Quetiapine

• Olanzapine

What did Healy (2012) suggest regarding the evidence on the effectiveness of antipsychotics?

• The evidence supports the use of clozapine as the most effective therapy

• The evidence supports the use of atypicals over typicals

• The evidence is compromised due to short duration trials

• The evidence is misrepresented due to repeated publication of the same data

What did Meltzer et al. (2012) conclude about the effectiveness of clozapine?

• The combination of typical antipsychotics and clozapine is more effective

• There is no evidence of superior efficacy of clozapine

• Clozapine is 30-50% more effective than typical antipsychotics

• Typical antipsychotics are 30-50% more effective than clozapine

What is the most serious side effect of typical anti-psychotics

• Neuroleptic malignant syndrome

• Agranulocytosis

• Excessive weight gain

• Cardiovascular problems