Active clinical trials for "Schizophrenia"

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the efficacy (effectiveness of drug) and safety of the antipsychotic paliperidone ER compared to another antipsychotic, quetiapine, and to placebo in patients who are acutely ill with symptoms of schizophrenia.

This is a 9 week, multicentre, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial with two parallel groups. There is also an open-label extension phase of 18 weeks. Both medications to be used in the study, clozapine and risperidone, are fully approved for the treatment of schizophrenia.

The study will evaluate the safety and tolerability of switching subjects with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder from their existing antipsychotic medication to Bifeprunox.

The primary purpose of this study is to determine whether a combination of ACP-103 (the study medication) with either haloperidol or risperidone will show antipsychotic efficacy and that it is safe and well tolerated. Further purposes of this study are to determine whether ACP-103, in combination with either haloperidol or risperidone, will enhance their antipsychotic effectiveness, demonstrate effectiveness against the negative symptoms, improve motoric tolerability, and is safe and well tolerated. This is a seven-week study (one week screening and six weeks of study medication) where a total of 400 patients who meet entrance criteria will randomly be assigned to receive one of five groups of study treatments of either low dose haloperidol plus ACP-103, low dose haloperidol plus placebo (a substance similar to a sugar pill), low dose risperidone plus ACP-103, low dose risperidone plus placebo, or high dose risperidone plus placebo. The study will begin with with a three to seven day drug-free period followed by six weeks of a stable daily dosage of study medication. Study subjects will be treated as hospital in-patients during screening and for the first 14 days of the study. Study subjects will be closely monitored throughout the study.

This study investigates treatment effects from aerobic endurance training, maximal strength training and computer game on aerobic capacity, work efficiency and psychiatric symptoms in patients suffering from schizophrenia. The study is a controlled trial. The aim is to describe the population in respect to aerobic capacity and muscular strength. Low aerobic capacity and muscular strength are important risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study also aim to evaluate physical and psychiatric effects from physical training. Effects from participation in physical training or computer game on symptoms, depression and quality of life will be investigated. Data will be collected between October 2005 and August 2007.

We propose a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to study the effectiveness and tolerability of adding risperidone to stable yet only partially remitted patients with schizophrenia maintained on clozapine.

Weight gain associated with antipsychotic medication use is a major side effect that limits the tolerability of these drugs. This often significant weight gain adversely affects health, increasing risks for developing cardiovascular disease, diabetes, sleep apnea, cancers of the colon, kidneys, uterus, endometrium and esophagus and osteoarthritis. Beasley and colleagues (1997) reported that 40.5% of olanzapine-treated patients gained more than 7% of baseline weight. Much of the olanzapine induced weight gain occurs early in treatment, and antipsychotic-naïve and young patients (Woods et al., 2002) are particularly vulnerable to this side effect. One of the most promising medications to aid weight loss in patients taking olanzapine is amantadine. Attempts at preventing weight gain are expected to be more successful than attempts to reverse it once it occurs. It is now common clinical practice to educate all patients beginning treatment with olanzapine, and other antipsychotics, about healthy eating and the need for exercise. However, despite this effort, weight gain in this population continues. Beginning a weight-stabilizing medication after a low threshold of weight gain has occurred may have significant impact on patients' health and their willingness to continue to take antipsychotics. We propose to investigate the efficacy of amantadine as a weight-stabilizing agent in a population of first-episode psychotic subjects just beginning treatment with antipsychotic agents. This population is generally young and medically healthy, without contraindications to amantadine. They are often of normal body mass index and without obesity-related medical problems. They have much to gain in preventing the weight gain which so often progresses steadily over the course of treatment, is difficult to reverse and results in significant morbidity and mortality. Additionally, the first episode psychotic population tends to take fewer concomitant psychiatric medications. This is important since these medications may cause weight gain (long term use of mirtazapine, lithium, depakote) or weight loss (short term use of SSRI's) which could confound the effectiveness of amantadine to combat weight gain.

Schizophrenia affects approximately 1% of the population worldwide, and in about 80% of cases, it is a lifelong, disabling illness. It is a multi-dimensional disease that is associated with symptoms that have been characterized as positive, negative, and cognitive. CDS is a core feature of schizophrenia, and most individuals with schizophrenia exhibit cognitive impairment. Attention disorders, slow information processing, working memory disorders, and lack of flexibility for adaptive strategies are symptoms of cognitive impairment that have a devastating impact on the function, employment, and social status of patients with schizophrenia. Older typical neuroleptic medications (e.g., haloperidol, fluphenazine) do not improve cognition. In fact, haloperidol has been shown to induce cognitive impairment in schizophrenic patients. Novel atypical antipsychotics, such as risperidone, clozapine, and olanzapine, seem to produce gains in cognition. This improvement may reflect a diminution of extrapyramidal side effects of the typical high potency neuroleptics. Alternatively, it might reflect more effective symptom reduction by the novel antipsychotics, or direct cognitive enhancement through the effects of the newer agents on a variety of neurotransmitters, their receptors, and gene expression. Even when the newer antipsychotic medications improve cognition, they do not normalize it. Presently, there are no approved therapies for CDS. However, in schizophrenic patients, nicotine improves multiple cognitive domains, including working memory and attention. Furthermore, based on a strong body of evidence ranging from genetic mapping to clinical trials, the alpha7 NNR subtype has emerged as a primary therapeutic target relevant to CDS and other core symptoms of schizophrenia

The purpose of this study is to determine whether computer-based training of auditory and visual processing results in corresponding improvement in brain function in individuals with schizophrenia.

The purposes of this study are to evaluate the effect of food on the pharmacokinetics of extended-release (ER) OROS paliperidone in healthy Japanese adults and to assess the safety and tolerability.