Active clinical trials for "Psychotic Disorders"

The overall goal of this project is to improve the treatment of alcohol dependence in patients with serious mental illness (SMI). SMI for this study is defined as any patient with any of the following diagnoses: schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar type I or type II disorder. Alcohol and other substance use disorders (SUDs) are common among individuals with SMI. SUD comorbidity is associated with many adverse consequences. However, to date, few reports have addressed the efficacy of pharmacological treatments for SUDs in this population. Naltrexone pharmacotherapy is an effective treatment for alcohol dependence, but it has not been systematically applied to the care of patients with SMI. The primary aim of this study is to determine the feasibility of long-acting injectable naltrexone administration in a clinical trial in patients with SMI who also have a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. Secondary aims include providing a preliminary assessment of the tolerability and safety of long-acting injectable naltrexone in patients with SMI who also have a diagnosis of alcohol dependence. An additional aim is to provide a preliminary assessment of the efficacy of long-acting injectable naltrexone in reducing alcohol use from baseline levels.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether Taurine 4g is effective with antipsychotic medication in the treatment of First Episode Psychosis.Taurine may have an effect on cognition and symptoms. We are examining changes in symptoms and cognition over a 3 month period.

This study will evaluate the safety and efficacy of two dose levels of pimavanserin (ACP-103) compared to placebo in patients with Parkinson's disease psychosis.

Veterans with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder experience very high levels of disability and poor community outcome. Further improvements in community outcome for patients with these disorders will not occur simply through better control of clinical symptoms. Instead, it will be necessary to find treatments that address the key determinants of poor functional outcome. Evidence strongly suggests that basic (non-social) cognitive and social cognitive deficits are among the key determinants of functional outcome for these illnesses. The primary goal of this 2-year pilot study is to implement and validate a new remediation program for social cognition that is appropriate for veterans with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder.

An open-label, multi-center, 6-week, sequential cohort study designed to determine the safety and tolerability of two dose ranges of BL-1020 in hospitalized subjects with chronic schizophrenia or schizo-affective disorder

Patient participation is a central concept in Norwegian health policy. It is mandatory in hospitals and emphasised as one of the most prioritised areas by the Government. Studies from Norway have repeatedly found that patients who seek help in community mental health centres ("DPS") are dissatisfied with the information they receive and about their possibility for real influence in their treatment. One way to improve individual patient participation might be to give patients information before they start their treatment. This can be done as group based patient education to reduce the resources needed. Furthermore, as there are waiting lists for treatment, such introduction seminars could be held while patients are waiting to use this time in a meaningful way. The present study therefore aims at testing the effect of an introduction seminar for patients on waiting list in a community mental health centre.

One of the commonly adopted strategies in improving outcome in psychotic disorders is by focused, specific and intensive intervention in the initial few years of the disorder. However the effects of intervention and the optimal duration of intervention have seldom been examined in randomized studies. This study uses a randomized controlled study design to investigate the effectiveness of stage-specific case-management in improving outcome of first episode psychotic disorders. It also addresses whether two years of case-management is less effective than four years of case-management over a four year period. A total of 360 subjects, who aged 25 above, and diagnosed with first episode psychotic disorders, will be and randomized into 3 groups: (1) standard care alone without case management, (2) two-year case management, (3) four-year case management. All groups will receive usual standard care treatment. This four-year follow-up study will assess symptoms, functioning, quality of life as well as health economics data.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the addition of minocycline or placebo to treatment as usual (TAU): prevents the accumulation of negative symptoms and intellectual decline following a first episode of non-affective psychosis; and whether minocycline stabilizes the efficacy of antipsychotics.

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

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.