The+Future+of+Pharmacological+Treatments+for+Schizophrenia

**__ Future Research & New Drugs __** For decades, new approaches to treating Schizophrenia have arisen from a search to find a drug that lacks the typical side effects of antipsychotics. Although there has been marked improvement in the lessening of the known troubling side effects of these drugs, there is not a complete understanding of the mechanisms of action of the antipsychotics on the market, hence the need for innovation in the pharmacological treatment of Schizophrenia. **__Hypothesis' Driving Research of the Pharmacological Treatment for Schizophrenia __** **__Signal Transduction Hypothesis __****__: __**  Basic alternations in receptor-medicated signal transduction induces schizophrenia like symptoms, there more normalizing the altered signaling with medications targeting receptor and post receptor molecules should be effective in treating schizophrenia. This has been a predominate focus in pharmacological research, but movement beyond current strategies to the development of agents that can affects more diverse cellular functioning is needed.


 * __Molecular-Genetic Hypothesis: __** Targeting susceptible genes and their associated anatomic & functional pathways that are thought to be underlying factors in the symptoms of Schizophrenia will lead to more effective treatments. Recent breakthroughs in genetic studies of schizophrenia are leading to the development of hypothesis driven approaches for developing disease modifying drugs

**__ Neural Network Hypothesis : __** Effects of altered neuronal integration lead to Schizophrenia, and drugs that can reset the tone of these neuronal interaction networks, and target these underlying deficits will be effective in treating Schizophrenia  ( Gray & Roth, 2007) **__New Antipsychotics __** **__Asenapine __** __: __ is effective in treating positive symptoms, and has a significant advantage over placebo in the treatment of negative symptoms, but this effect is small and possibly insignificant. It appears to be well tolerated and metabolically neutral, but has no clear effect on functional disability.

**__Bifeprunox: __** <span style="color: #141413; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> has a possibility of beneficial effects on some metabolic parameters, and is well tolerated, but there are some doubts over efficiency, although there is clear longer-term efficacy. Bifeprunox may be a possible alternative to Aripiprazole.

**__<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Iloperidone: __** <span style="color: #141413; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> appears to be effective, but side effects such as weight gain and haemostatic changes may occur. IIoperidone has no clear place in therapy.

**__<span style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif;">Norclozapine: __** <span style="color: #141413; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> has the potential to become an alternative to clozapine, but further clinical efficacy and safety data are clearly required. <span style="display: block; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;"> Current antipsychotics are effective against positive symptoms, but don't improve the functional disability in Schizophrenic patients, and there is a need for drugs that provide improvements in the negative and cognitive symptoms of Schizophrenia. //<span style="color: #141413; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Despite improvements, overall, none of these drugs have been shown to satisfy our current clinical need for new pharmacological treatments of Schizophrenia. //   <span style="background-color: #ffffff; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">(Birsha & Taylor, 2008)