Clinical trial shows first treatment for ‘emotional flatness’ associated with schizophrenia

That is the title of this article I am writing about. "Results of a clinical trial seem to show the first effective treatment for the negative symptoms--withdrawal, lack of emotion, and apathy--associated with schizophrenia.  This work is presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology conference in Amsterdam.  Schizophrenia is one of the most common serious mental health conditions, with around 1 in 100 people experiencing schizophrenia in their lifetime. The main symptoms fall into 3 categories: positive symptoms, such as delusions and hallucinations; negative symptoms, such as lack of drive and social withdrawal; and cognitive symptoms, such as problems with attention and memory. The negative symptoms tend to persist, and don't respond well to current treatment. Effective medicines (antipsychotics) exist for positive symptoms, but negative symptoms and cognitive impairment do not respond well to the available treatments.  Now the results of a new Phase III clinical trial indicate that the negative symptoms may be treatable with a new investigational drug, cariprazine, which binds to the D2 and D3 dopamine receptor with D3 preference. The researchers, all from the Gedeon Richter pharmaceutical company which developed the drug, enrolled 461 men and women in a randomised, double-blind clinical trial, to compare cariprazine against risperidone (which is commonly used to treat schizophrenia). Patients were treated for 26 weeks, with 77.4% of enrolled patients completing the trial. Full details of the trial are given in the abstract."It is the first to show good results.  This is what people have been waiting for now we have to see if there are any side effects that make it not wanted.
The article goes on to say: "The outcomes were measured using a special subscale of the PANSS scale (Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale) which is a standard method used for measuring symptom severity of patients with schizophrenia. After 26 weeks of treatment, it was found that cariprazine treatment group showed a statistically significant improvement in the PANSS-NFS scale relative to risperidone (-1.47; p=0.002). In addition to the effect on predominant negative symptoms of schizophrenia, patients who took cariprazine also performed significantly better on personal and social functioning than those who took risperidone. Full details of the trial are given in the abstract.
According to lead researcher Dr György Németh (Chief Medical Officer, Gedeon Richter): 'The positive symptoms of schizophrenia can be controlled by drugs, but this is the first study ever to show a significant effect of a compound on negative symptom compared to another antipsychotic. It seems that with cariprazine, we may be able to treat both the positive and negative symptoms with a single medication.'" One drug to treat it all what more could you ask for.  I know taking one drug for my mental illness is the best.  Although I never had negative symptoms but hear all the time how it effects those others with schizophrenia.
The article ends: "Commenting, ECNP Executive Committee Member Professor Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg said: 'Treatments for the negative symptoms of schizophrenia are still urgently needed as these are critical predictors for patient's recovery and reintegration. The current results suggest that D3-dopaminergic mechanisms may play a role in both causing and treating emotional flatness, which deserve further confirmation.'  The trial was organised and supported by the Gedeon Richter pharmaceutical company, which developed cariprazine. The researchers report that the most frequent adverse events (incidence ≥5%) across both treatments groups were insomnia, headache, akathisia, worsening of schizophrenia symptoms, anxiety and somnolence. As this drug has not yet completed the approval process, no indication of the costs of the treatment is available." That is a lot of side effects.  It will not work for everyone is what I am thinking.

What’s there to be Said

There have been many times someone has spoken to me, greeting me, commenting on the day, the news, exercising their intellect with no intention except to be cordial or concerning or even helping me to understand one thing or another. I am not there to understand what I should and I am not feeling well to respond either. During these episodes, I may be under the weather, slightly depressed or confused about something other than the greeting of someone who may feel quite different than me. I may be overwhelmed about work or just sitting at home with no interest in anything when guest have appeared. I know something is wrong when I am not smiling within or following any conversation. I am stuffing my emotions when I do not react responsibly, when I don’t want to associate and I am holding back by not exclaiming to myself when I am troubled; nor do I want to hear some old cliché about how I should be feeling. When someone says something to me something as, “it will be alright”, or “you’re smarter than that”, or anything relating to joy or happiness, you’ll find as I have that “old clichés don’t always work to clear the cob webs from the rafters.
We live in a world of know and know not and a sorely depressed person would know how badly it is before they want to understand when others are trying to cheer them up with some phrase or worldly cliché. I know people suffer in many ways, so why remind someone of their suffering with words they may not want to hear. Most clinical illnesses are related and within these relations, guilt plays a major factor, and often it has no reality for existing, yet I know when I need an adjustment and am searching for the better I know it is not something flowery when I am not feeling so well. I am only looking for someone to listen to me because I want to sort out the problem that plagues me.
There are many things that can be said to someone with a medical disorder, such as with mental illness which can lead a person down a shallower path. As people may think they are helping with flowery words, or sayings retrieved from the annals of history, they may not know that they are only causing worry or consternation simply by not realizing that a person with especially mental illness, may only want to be heard, but not motivated as well by perfumed phrases or even negative ones. There are phrases which disarm the mind’s eye of those who are mentally ill, and being offensive they may cause themselves harm or someone else. This is part of the stigma of caring for someone, even if they don’t care to harm themselves often caring to isolate themselves from what they realize may not be the truth in a cheerful cliché.
We can control our acceptance of therapy and without the speeches of cordiality, intellect, or compromise as we grow even more discerning of becoming recovered from our illness and in this knowing we can accept this without negative verbosities which may even be a rose.
11 Things You Should Never Say to Someone With Depression » Medical Billing and Coding Certification

Written by Donald S.