New Hope for Patients with Treatment-Resistant Schizophrenia

That is the title of this article I am writing about. “Researchers at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine have discovered a genetic biomarker that could help identify schizophrenia patients who are resistant to antipsychotic drugs (about 30 percent of all schizophrenia patients).  ‘Many treatment-resistant patients are not identified as such and are treated with mixtures of ineffective antipsychotic and other drugs, accruing little benefit and serious side effects, said Herbert Meltzer, M.D., professor in psychiatry and behavioral sciences, pharmacology, and physiology.  By definition, treatment-resistant schizophrenia patients are those who continue to have psychotic symptoms, such as delusions and hallucination, after they have completed at least two rounds of conventional antipsychotic medications.” This is hope I know a lot of people still have voices when they are taking antipsychotics medications and that is a hard pill to swallow.  If there is some way to help them it would be great.
The article goes on to say: “For the research, Meltzer, Jiang Li, Ph.D., a research assistant professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, conducted a genome-wide association study on a group of Caucasian schizophrenia patients – a combination of both treatment-responsive and treatment-resistant patients. In the treatment-resistant group, the researchers found a mutation in the dopa decarboxylase gene, which is involved in the production of dopamine and serotonin. Certain variations of this gene have been linked to psychosis in previous studies.  Many patients who were once treatment-resistant do eventually respond to a drug called clozapine.  However, it’s usually not administered in early treatment stages due to potentially severe side effects and required weekly blood monitoring.”  They need something that works as soon as possible so they do not get discouraged with seeking treatment.  They need some kind of medication that manages their symptoms and gives them some kind of relief.
The article ends with: ‘“This biomarker can be used to easily identify patients who should be treated with clozapine, avoiding the use of drugs that are not able to help them.  This can be life-saving,’ said Meltzer, who has dedicated years to developing atypical antipsychotic drugs to help these patients.  He was the lead researcher in the landmark clinical trial that led to FDA’s approval of clozapine in 1989.  Not every patient who benefits from clozapine, however, has the specific dopa decarboxylase genetic mutation.  The researchers will work with a greater variety of schizophrenia patients in the future – particularly patients from other ethnic groups – to look for other biomarkers and treatment options for those who don’t get better with conventional treatments. ‘In a broader sense, this work defines treatment-resistant schizophrenia as a distinct subtype of the illness,’ said Meltzer.  Schizophrenia is one of the most severe and rarest of the mental health disorders, occurring in about one in 100 people. It is characterized by symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, paranoia, cognitive impairment, social withdrawal, self-neglect, and loss of motivation and initiative.  The finding were published in the journal Schizophrenia Research.” It is finally defined as treatment-resistant.  Again we cannot lump all schizophrenics in the same category.  I just wish there were more options there just clozapine for treatment.  I do not know in my lifetime if I will ever find out everything about this disease.  I would like to also to find out why I have it and how.

Diminished Capacity

This is a follow up to last week’s article on health care. In the article they said people with mental illness do not receive adequate health care.  One reason is because they do not take medicine like they are supposed to.  Is it because their cognitive functions are diminished that is what I understood.  I wanted to write about some of the people who have mental illness and they are not cognitively disabled because of their mental illness.
One of those people is Elyn Saks’s who is a professor of law at the University of Southern California she won a genius award.  Now I believe she adheres to taking her medicine and has come a long way in her life doing well.    Some people without mental illness have not achieved as much as her.  She also wrote a memoir of her struggles with Schizophrenia.  There are a lot of smart and successful people who have mental illness.  Some are celebrities that have come out to get rid of the stigma.One of those is Catherine Zeta-Jones who by talking about her mental illness which is Bipolar has brought out other celebrities also like Carrie Fisher to talk about their struggles with mental illness.  There are a lot of celebrities with mental illness that bring it out to get rid of the stigma.  Also have to remember John Nash of a beautiful mind movie.  He was a professor also and won the Nobel Prize in Economics.  Healthcare professionals have to treat everyone equal and help all people to live longer lives if at all possible.

I know from my own experience that there are a lot of people with mental illness that are higher functioning that do not tell they have a mental illness because of the stigma.  I know when I was first out of the state hospital I experience prejudice or stigma whatever you would like to call it firsthand.  I told the apartment manager that I had a mental illness when I was looking for apartments and she stopped talking to me and started talking to my sister.  I knew then that I would not get that apartment although she played it out calling to give excuses why I did not get it.
I know if President Obama does fight and is successful in bringing mental illness out of the shadows and a lot of people we will find that have mental illness and never told that they do. We will find that people with mental illness do not have diminished capacity and can understand and take their medications and fight for equal healthcare.  As many people with mental illness are not working and are on Medicaid and Welfare would it not be the right thing to do is give them the best healthcare in the beginning so they do not keep coming back for the same problem in an emergency room and we pay more money for the same health problem?

This Week

This week has been a good week for me. I took a day and half off of work to rest. All I did on my day and a half off was rest and take a walk. It was a nice day and a half off. It cleared my mind and I am back ready to work. It also let me think about the good things in life. Like my grandchildren, they are doing well and are back in school. My youngest grandchild is getting big already going on three years old the end of November. I also thought about self-efficacy and how if you just hang in there things will always get better. I believe all problems can be worked out. I did not get to read what is going on this week in the mental health field. Last week one of the websites they were talking about movies and how their symptoms are bothering them. I guess I am lucky because my symptoms have not bothered me in over eighteen years. The medicine works pretty well for me. I am glad. I just wish they would work as well for everyone. Although everyone is different, that is why there is not just one size fits all when it comes to medicine. The same can be said about recovery. I am just glad for my job and life. I am pretty lucky.