Active clinical trials for "Psychotic Disorders"

This study will determine the effectiveness of the STIRR (Screen, Test, Immunize, Reduce risk, and Refer) intervention in increasing rates of testing, immunization, referral, and treatment for blood-borne diseases, such as hepatitis and HIV, in people with both a mental disorder and a substance abuse disorder.

The primary objective of this study is to evaluate change in weight as a result of switching from quetiapine to ziprasidone, in subjects with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who have failed to achieve a satisfactory clinical response to quetiapine due to lack of efficacy or poor tolerability.

This study will determine the comparative effectiveness of two systems designed to improve medication adherence in people with schizophrenia.

The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness, safety, and tolerability of metformin treatment in children and adolescents suffering from weight gain secondary to use of atypical antipsychotic medications. In this 12 week, open-label study we will investigate metformin's effects on weight control and/or weight loss. We hypothesize that metformin would prevent further weight gain or lead to weight loss, resulting in amelioration of one of the most significant side effects of atypical antipsychotic use.

This clinical trial tests the effectiveness of cognitive therapy (CT) to improve outcomes in outpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder who manifest prominent negative symptoms. It is hypothesized that patients receiving cognitive therapy will manifest lower negative symptom levels and improved engagement in constructive activity relative to patients who receive treatment-as-usual. Further, it is predicted that these differences between CT and TAU will be larger when patients are assessed 6 and 12 months after the end of treatment (18 and 24 months after study entry).

Corlux (mifepristone) is a new medication that modulates the body's use of a hormone called cortisol. Under normal conditions, cortisol and other hormones are created by the body in response to physical and emotional stress, triggering a healthy stress response. People who suffer from psychotic major depression may have unusually high levels of cortisol circulating within them or abnormal patterns of cortisol levels, overloading the stress response mechanism and causing symptoms of psychosis such as delusional thoughts or hallucinations. If Corlux can keep the body's cortisol receptors from being overloaded, the stress response system may return to normal function, which may result in improvement of symptoms. The purpose of this 56 day study is to learn the safety and effectiveness of Corlux in patients who have been diagnosed with psychotic major depression (PMD).

In the proposed study 450 veterans with a primary diagnosis of schizophrenia who had at least one psychiatric hospitalization for schizophrenia in the previous 2 years would be randomly assigned at 16 VA medical centers to long-acting injectable risperidone or doctor's choice of oral antipsychotic medication (i.e., excluding other long-acting injectable medications, but not specifying any particular oral agents or dosages). Recruitment would take 27 months to complete, and the study would continue for a third year to allow 9 months of follow-up for the last patient recruited. All patients would be treated from the time of entry up to the end of the three-year study period. Follow-up assessments would continue quarterly. Treatments would not be blinded since giving placebo injections to the comparison group would interfere with the goal of comparing the acceptability of two different methods of medication administration. However, end points will be blindly rated.

Valproic acid is a leading mood stabilizer for the treatment of bipolar disorder. Its well-known teratogenicity limits its use in young women of childbearing age. According to toxicologic studies the teratogenicity of valproate stems from its free carboxylic group. Valnoctamide is an isomer and an analog of valpromide. Unlike valpromide, valnoctamide does not undergo a biotransformation to the corresponding free acid. It is also likely or at least possible that valnoctamide is anti-bipolar. In mice valnoctamide has been shown to be distinctly less teratogenic than valproate. An injection at day 8 of gestation produced only 1% exencephaly (as compared to 0-1% in control mice and 53% in valproate treated mice). The investigators are performing a double-blind controlled trial of valnoctamide as an anti-bipolar drug. If shown to be anti-bipolar, valnoctamide could be an important valproate substitute for young women with bipolar disorder who are at risk of pregnancy. Patients newly admitted to the Beersheva Mental Health Center may participate if they meet Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - 4th edition (DSM-IV) criteria for mania or schizoaffective disorder, manic type. Patients admitted to the study are treated with risperidone at doses of the physicians' discretion beginning with 2 mg daily on days 1 and 2. Valnoctamide or placebo is begun at doses of 600 mg per day (200 mg three times daily) and increased to 1200 mg (400 mg three times daily) after four days. Weekly ratings by a psychiatrist blind to the study drug are conducted using the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), the Young Mania Rating Scale (YMS), and the Clinical Global Impression (CGI). Weekly blood is drawn for drug levels of valnoctamide to be measured by gas chromatography. Each patient receives valnoctamide or placebo for 5 weeks. Low teratogenic mood stabilizers are a high priority for current research.

This study is to assess the safety and tolerability of a five-day titration schedule (using twice daily dosing for the first three days) to achieve the highest proposed dose of 40 mg daily. The study duration is two months.

The optimal strategy for the treatment of behavioral complications in patients with probable Alzheimer's disease (AD) remains unclear. The objective of this study is to evaluate the risk of relapse following discontinuation of haloperidol in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD) with psychosis or agitation who respond to it. In Phase A of this study, AD outpatients with behavioral complications receive 20 weeks of open haloperidol treatment with an oral dose of 1-5 mg daily, titrated individually to achieve the optimal trade-off between efficacy and side effects. Responders to Phase A participate in Phase B, a 24-week continuation trial in which patients are randomized to continuation haloperidol or placebo. The primary outcome is the time to relapse of psychosis or behavioral disturbance.