At the time of this review , seven AAPs were available in Canada : aripiprazole clozapine olanzapine paliperidone quetiapine risperidone ziprasidone
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that requires lifelong treatment and is associated with symptoms that include hallucinations , delusions , cognitive impairment , disorganized thoughts , social withdrawal , and low motivation .
Antipsychotic medications are effective at relieving the symptoms of schizophrenia , and they form the foundation of treatment .
Clozapine alone versus clozapine and risperidone with refractory schizophrenia.
BACKGROUND The treatment of schizophrenia with multiple antipsychotic drugs is common , but the benefits and risks are not known . METHODS In a r and omized , double-blind study , we evaluated patients with schizophrenia and a poor response to treatment with clozapine .  The patients continued to take clozapine and were r and omly assigned to receive eight weeks of daily augmentation with 3 mg of risperidone or with placebo . This course of treatment was followed by an optional 18 weeks of augmentation with risperidone . The primary outcome was reduction in the total score for severity of symptoms on the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale ( PANSS ) . The secondary outcomes included cognitive functioning . RESULTS A total of 68 patients were r and omly assigned to treatment . In the double-blind phase , the mean total score for the severity of symptoms decreased from baseline to eight weeks in both the risperidone and the placebo groups . There was no statistically significant difference in symptomatic benefit between augmentation with risperidone and placebo : 9 of 34 patients receiving placebo and 6 of 34 receiving risperidone responded to treatment ( P=0.38 ) . The mean difference in the change in PANSS scores from baseline to eight weeks between those receiving risperidone and those receiving placebo was 0.1 ( 95 percent confidence interval , -7.3 to 7.0 ) . The verbal working-memory index showed a small decline in the risperidone group and a small improvement in the placebo group ( P=0.02 for the comparison between the two groups in the change from baseline ) . The increase in fasting blood glucose levels was mildly greater in the risperidone group than in the placebo group ( 16.2 vs. 1.8 mg per deciliter [ 0.90 vs. 0.10 mmol per liter ] , P=0.04 ) . The incidence and severity of other side effects did not differ between the two groups . CONCLUSIONS In this short-term study , the addition of risperidone to clozapine did not improve symptoms in patients with severe schizophrenia . ( Clinical Trials.gov number , NCT00272584 )
At the time of this review , seven AAPs were available in Canada : aripiprazole clozapine olanzapine paliperidone quetiapine risperidone ziprasidone
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that requires lifelong treatment and is associated with symptoms that include hallucinations , delusions , cognitive impairment , disorganized thoughts , social withdrawal , and low motivation .
Antipsychotic medications are effective at relieving the symptoms of schizophrenia , and they form the foundation of treatment .