That is the title of this article
I am writing about today. “The better- known symptoms of schizophrenia are
devastating enough: hallucinations, delusions, agitated body movements, the
inability to experience pleasure. Yet
even when these facets are controlled with antipsychotic drugs, cognitive
deficits that make it hard to maintain relationships or hold a job can still
consign patients to a life in the shadows, with few friends or little contact
with family. Those impairments – which
include things like working memory, processing speed or the ability to
interpret the emotion on someone’s face – affect 98% of schizophrenia patients
to varying degrees according to a study at Sunday’s lunchtime session
‘Recognizing Cognitive Impairment in Schizophrenia: Neurobiology and Clinical
Implications.’ Part of the US Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in Orlando
Florida. Speakers Henry
A. Nasrallah, MD, chairman of the Department if Neurology and Psychiatry, St.
Louis University School of Medicine; Richard S. E. Keefe, PhD, Professor if
Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, Duke University Medical Center; and John M.
Kane, MD, chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Hofstra North Shore-LIJ School of
Medicine; discussed background implications, and current research efforts by
academia and the pharmaceutical community to find treatments for cognitive
impairments in schizophrenia.” These are
bad negative symptoms to have. It does
make it hard to hold friends when you cannot read emotions on someone’s face. I
work on my memory that is one thing I do not want to lose.
The article goes on to say: “Cognitive impairment is a core feature of schizophrenia, not a secondary element of the disease, Dr Nasrallah said. Its near universal appearance among patients is made more complicated by the fact that fewer than half are aware of these deficits, and thus interactions with everyone from family, to strangers, to prospective employers are marked by failures to connect. ‘They may interpret a neutral facial expression as threatening,’ Dr Nasrallah said. For decades, schizophrenia research focused on managing symptoms that could cause the patient immediate harm, or harm to others. Only in the 1990s did cognition come back into focus, Dr Nasrallah said, and it’s long overdue, for these deficits that keep patients from fully taking their place in the world. ‘It’s a huge unmet need,’ he said; if this area is not addressed, most schizophrenia patients will remain on disability. For years, there was debate whether cognitive deficits were caused by the disease or antipsychotic drugs that controlled its symptoms. That has been settled, Dr Nasrallah said. Cognitive decline is present early, and it picks up speed in the period before psychosis occurs, although improper dosing of some therapies can make the deficits worse.” It is not the medicine that causes this. It could hinder someone trying to work. I myself can never read people.
The article goes on to say: “ Dr Nasrallah and the later speakers suggested the knowledge of how early cognitive decline happens, and the fact that the loss of brain tissue at the onset of schizophrenia has now been documented, could provide an opportunity for clinician and researchers to create therapies to halt the worst effects. The ultimate goal, Dr Kane said later, would be to tailor treatment to a patient’s genetic profile. Why is treating cognitive impairment just as important as treating symptoms like hallucinations? As Dr Keefe explained, these deficits contribute to functional outcomes, and they are the reason why schizophrenia is third-leading cause of life-years on disability for persons aged 15 to 44 years old. (They first is unipolar depression, the second I alcoholism). Data are compelling and sad. ‘Two-thirds of these patients never marry,’ Dr Keefe said. Some 20% are homeless at any one time. Fewer than 15% hold competitive employment. Most chilling, 40% of individuals with severe mental illness are incarcerated, Dr Keefe said. ( A study in The American Journal of Managed Care earlier this year linked prior authorization policies in Medicaid in certain states with higher incarceration rates for persons with schizophrenia.) Cognitive impairment, Dr Keefe said, cause persons with schizophrenia to lead, ‘impoverished, challenging lives.’” If they can help more people with schizophrenia to work and lead content lives then I am all for it.
The article ends with: “As an example, he discussed how if an average person is given 16 words, he can remember 10, while a person with schizophrenia can only recall 6. ‘Try developing an intimate relationship when you can’t remember the things that he other person told you, things that re keys to your intimacy,’Dr Keefe said. MATRICS. As Dr kane explained, the age of onset of schizophrenia comes as a patient’s peers are moving into the world, making connections, finding jobs, are getting married. ‘ All of that delayed in someone with cognitive impairment,’ Dr Kane said. Right now there aren’t any FDA approved treatments for cognitive impairment, but much work is going on to change that. Promoted by the National Institute of Mental Health, the MATRICS (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia) project seeks to speed up the process of developing therapies to treat cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. According to Dr Kane, MATRICS represents a collaboration among government, academia and the pharmaceutical sector, it was also described in a 2006 journal article as a ‘consensus-building’ process to agree not only on what are the best molecular targets for drug development, but also what the standards should be for measuring progress in cognition. The project developed the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, or MCCB, which take 75 minutes to complete and measures not only cognition but also functional improvement as a co-primary endpoint. As for therapies, Dr Kane said. ‘Pharmacologic interventions that target molecular mechanisms beyond dopamine are in development to address cognitive impairment.’ Numerous potential therapies are being studied" That is good news. I hope they can find something that will help us all.
The article goes on to say: “Cognitive impairment is a core feature of schizophrenia, not a secondary element of the disease, Dr Nasrallah said. Its near universal appearance among patients is made more complicated by the fact that fewer than half are aware of these deficits, and thus interactions with everyone from family, to strangers, to prospective employers are marked by failures to connect. ‘They may interpret a neutral facial expression as threatening,’ Dr Nasrallah said. For decades, schizophrenia research focused on managing symptoms that could cause the patient immediate harm, or harm to others. Only in the 1990s did cognition come back into focus, Dr Nasrallah said, and it’s long overdue, for these deficits that keep patients from fully taking their place in the world. ‘It’s a huge unmet need,’ he said; if this area is not addressed, most schizophrenia patients will remain on disability. For years, there was debate whether cognitive deficits were caused by the disease or antipsychotic drugs that controlled its symptoms. That has been settled, Dr Nasrallah said. Cognitive decline is present early, and it picks up speed in the period before psychosis occurs, although improper dosing of some therapies can make the deficits worse.” It is not the medicine that causes this. It could hinder someone trying to work. I myself can never read people.
The article goes on to say: “ Dr Nasrallah and the later speakers suggested the knowledge of how early cognitive decline happens, and the fact that the loss of brain tissue at the onset of schizophrenia has now been documented, could provide an opportunity for clinician and researchers to create therapies to halt the worst effects. The ultimate goal, Dr Kane said later, would be to tailor treatment to a patient’s genetic profile. Why is treating cognitive impairment just as important as treating symptoms like hallucinations? As Dr Keefe explained, these deficits contribute to functional outcomes, and they are the reason why schizophrenia is third-leading cause of life-years on disability for persons aged 15 to 44 years old. (They first is unipolar depression, the second I alcoholism). Data are compelling and sad. ‘Two-thirds of these patients never marry,’ Dr Keefe said. Some 20% are homeless at any one time. Fewer than 15% hold competitive employment. Most chilling, 40% of individuals with severe mental illness are incarcerated, Dr Keefe said. ( A study in The American Journal of Managed Care earlier this year linked prior authorization policies in Medicaid in certain states with higher incarceration rates for persons with schizophrenia.) Cognitive impairment, Dr Keefe said, cause persons with schizophrenia to lead, ‘impoverished, challenging lives.’” If they can help more people with schizophrenia to work and lead content lives then I am all for it.
The article ends with: “As an example, he discussed how if an average person is given 16 words, he can remember 10, while a person with schizophrenia can only recall 6. ‘Try developing an intimate relationship when you can’t remember the things that he other person told you, things that re keys to your intimacy,’Dr Keefe said. MATRICS. As Dr kane explained, the age of onset of schizophrenia comes as a patient’s peers are moving into the world, making connections, finding jobs, are getting married. ‘ All of that delayed in someone with cognitive impairment,’ Dr Kane said. Right now there aren’t any FDA approved treatments for cognitive impairment, but much work is going on to change that. Promoted by the National Institute of Mental Health, the MATRICS (Measurement and Treatment Research to Improve Cognition in Schizophrenia) project seeks to speed up the process of developing therapies to treat cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. According to Dr Kane, MATRICS represents a collaboration among government, academia and the pharmaceutical sector, it was also described in a 2006 journal article as a ‘consensus-building’ process to agree not only on what are the best molecular targets for drug development, but also what the standards should be for measuring progress in cognition. The project developed the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery, or MCCB, which take 75 minutes to complete and measures not only cognition but also functional improvement as a co-primary endpoint. As for therapies, Dr Kane said. ‘Pharmacologic interventions that target molecular mechanisms beyond dopamine are in development to address cognitive impairment.’ Numerous potential therapies are being studied" That is good news. I hope they can find something that will help us all.
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