Preliminary studies suggest that about a quarter to a half of the teenagers identified this way will go on to develop schizophrenia. This means that as many as three-quarters could receive unnecessary treatment. No one knows the long-term dangers of putting such patients on antipsychotic drugs, Cowdry says. The latest generation of drugs is safer and more effective than older ones, but the drugs still have troublesome side effects, such as weight gain and drowsiness. And once patients start taking these medications, no one knows when, if ever, they will be able to stop.
Some scientists already think they're zeroing in on genes associated with schizophrenia.
And at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, scientists reported abnormally high levels of an enzyme called reverse transcriptase in the spinal fluid of recently diagnosed schizophrenic patients. All rights reserved. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines .