Schizophrenia Flashcards
(9 cards)
1
Q
what is schizophrenia?
A
- severe psychiatric disorder
- distortion of thoughts and perception
- cognitive impairment
- affects 1%
2
Q
what are positive symptoms?? (1)
A
- presence of abnormal thoughts and behaviours
- delusions
- hallucinations
- disorganised speech
- catatonic behaviour
3
Q
what are some negative symptoms ? (2)
A
- absence of normal responses
- reduced expression of emotion
- social withdrawal (abolition)
- cognitive impairment
4
Q
what is the aetiology of the disorder?
A
- strong, but invariable hereditary component
(environment has impact) - latent viral infections
- autoimmunity
- poor maternal nutrition
- neurodevelopment abnormality
- genetic predisposition with environmental trigger
5
Q
state the dopamine hypothesis
A
states that dopaminergic hyperactivity underlies the cause of S
6
Q
state some evidence that supports this theory?
A
- amphetamine abuse can lead to type 1-like symptoms in non-S patients
- D1/D2 agonists used to treat Parkinson’s can lead to exacerbation of T1 symptoms
- XS L-DOPA
DA release exacerbates T1 symptoms
7
Q
what was the first anti-psychotic drug?
A
chlorpromazine (originally intended to be an anti-histamine
(typical NL)
- attenuates positive symptoms without sedation
8
Q
List some properties of typical neuroleptic drugs
A
- R antagonists
- block a variety of R sites (hence the term ‘dirty’)
- D1/2
- mACh
- H1
- a1R
- 5-HT
- anti-P activity achieved via R block
- control positive symptoms but negative symptoms not so well treated
s/e are problematic
9
Q
List some properties of atypical neuroleptics
A
- distinctive from ‘typical’ drugs on basis of different pharmacological profile
- higher DA r selectivity (cleaner)
- fewer extrapyramidal s/e
- more effective for negative symptoms
- treatment of TRS
- better for negative symptoms
- s/e less marked (clozapine)
