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Treatment For Mental Illness Falls Short

Posting Date: 10/03/2005

Drugs like chlorpromazine can also cause akithesia, a profound restlessness that makes it hard for people to sit still. They feel as if they are about to jump out of their skin.

In the 1990s, a new class of anti-psychotics was introduced with great expectations. Medications like Clorazil and Zyprexa seemed less likely to cause troublesome side effects. These ?atypical antipsychotics? were followed by other new-generation schizophrenia medications such as Risperdal, Seroquel and Geodon.

Although very expensive, often costing hundreds of dollars a month, these drugs rapidly replaced older generic drugs like chlorpromazine or perphenazine. A new study demonstrates, however, that the more recent drugs are not much of an advance.

When compared to old-fashioned perphenazine, several new drugs were no more effective or better tolerated. Zyprexa was somewhat better, but it can cause serious weight gain that may predispose patients to diabetes and heart disease. Over the course of 18 months, nearly three fourths of patients stopped taking their medicines due to lack of effectiveness or intolerable side effects.

Although we no longer burn mental patients at the stake or perform lobotomies, this new research demonstrates that our treatments for schizophrenia are still far from ideal.

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Joe Graedon is a pharmacologist. Teresa Graedon holds a doctorate in medical anthropology and is a nutrition expert. Their syndicated radio show can be heard on public radio. In their column, Joe and Teresa Graedon answer letters from readers. Write to them in care of this newspaper or e-mail them via their Web site: www.PeoplesPharmacy.org.