Science Current Events | Science News | Brightsurf.com
 
Email a Friend Send to a friend
Printer Friendly Print Schizophrenia could cause patients to forget their medication

Schizophrenia could cause patients to forget their medication

August 12, 2003

Patients with schizophrenia must take medication regularly to reduce their risk of relapse. But the disease impairs memory, according to an article published in BMC Psychiatry, meaning these patients may have difficulty in remembering to take their tablets.

Habitual tasks, like taking medicine every few hours, rely on "prospective memory". This type of memory, which appears to be impaired by schizophrenia, enables you to remember that you have to do something in the future, without being prompted.

Brita Elvev'åg, from the Clinical Brain Disorders Branch of the National Institute of Mental Health and her colleagues who carried out the research, wrote: "To our knowledge this is the first study to show that schizophrenia is associated with an overall impairment in habitual prospective memory performance".

The authors hypothesised that patients with schizophrenia would have problems with tasks requiring prospective memory. They might mistake remembering they have to do something with remembering they've actually done it. Their hypothesis stemmed from the theory that people with schizophrenia confuse real and imagined events.




To test their hypothesis the researchers, based at NIMH and the University of Warwick, compared the prospective memory of people with and without the disease. In each test participants manoeuvred a ball around an obstacle course for 90 seconds. They were asked to turn over a counter when they were at least 25 seconds into the test. The time delay ensured that prospective memory had to be used. Participants with schizophrenia were more likely to forget to turn over the counter.

At the end of the test the participants were asked if they had remembered to turn over the counter. Approximately a third of the time participants with schizophrenia reported they had done so when they had not.

Elvev'åg and colleagues wrote: "This would seem a worryingly high probability for such an apparently simple task that posed few problems for control participants. [] Our result suggests that patients' self-reports of having completed a habitual prospective memory task, for example taking medication, are likely to be particularly unreliable".

Schizophrenia affects one in every hundred people at some point during their lives. While there is no cure, it is treatable with antipsychotic drugs. About 80 percent of those patients who stop taking their medications after an acute episode of schizophrenia will have a relapse within a year.

BioMed Central Limited



Related Schizophrenia Current Events and Schizophrenia News Articles Schizophrenia Current Events and Schizophrenia News RSS Schizophrenia Current Events and Schizophrenia News RSS
Transcription Factors May Dictate Differences Between Individuals
Researchers are only beginning to understand how individual variation in gene regulation can have a lasting impact on one's health and susceptibility to certain diseases.

Mother's flu during pregnancy may increase baby's risk of schizophrenia
Rhesus monkey babies born to mothers who had the flu while pregnant had smaller brains and showed other brain changes similar to those observed in human patients with schizophrenia, a study at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in collaboration with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has found.

Snake venom charms science world
The King Cobra continues to weave its charm with researchers identifying a protein in its venom with the potential for new drug discovery and to advance understanding of disease mechanisms.

Scientists identify age-associated defects in schizophrenia
The underlying causes of the debilitating psychiatric disorder schizophrenia remain poorly understood.

Critical brain chemical shown to play role in severe depression
The next advance in treating major depression may relate to a group of brain chemicals that are involved in virtually all our brain activity, according to a study published today in Biological Psychiatry.

Pitt Researchers Report Internal and Environmental Factors Trigger Unique Brain Activity in Teens, Is Key Step in Understanding Causes of Teen Behavior
While the otherworldly behavior of teenagers is well documented, University of Pittsburgh researchers have taken a significant step toward finally unraveling the actual brain activity that can drive adolescents to engage in impulsive, self-indulgent, or self-destructive behavior.

In schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, life is not black and white
Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder affect tens of millions of individuals around the world. These disorders have a typical onset in the early twenties and in most cases have a chronic or recurring course. Neither disorder has an objective biological marker than can be used to make diagnoses or to guide treatment.

Some morbidly obese people are missing genes, shows new research
A small but significant proportion of morbidly obese people are missing a section of their DNA, according to research published today in Nature.

Suicides by mental health patients preventable, says report
Preventing patients from leaving psychiatric wards without staff agreement could avoid up to 50 suicide deaths every year, say University of Manchester researchers.

Psychiatric patient suicides can be prevented
Between 1997 and 2006, 38% of out-of-clinic suicides by mental health patients were carried out by people absent without leave from the hospital.
More Schizophrenia Current Events and Schizophrenia News Articles
Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers

Surviving Schizophrenia: A Manual for Families, Patients, and Providers
by E. Fuller Torrey (Author)

Since its first publication in 1983, Surviving Schizophrenia has become the standard reference book on the disease and has helped thousands of patients, their families and mental health professionals. In clear language, this much–praised and important book describes the nature, causes, symptoms, treatment and course of schizophrenia and also explores living with it from both the patient and the family's point of view. This new, completely updated fifth edition includes the latest research findings on what causes the disease as well as information about the newest drugs for treatment and answers to the questions most often asked by families, consumers and providers.



The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness

The Quiet Room: A Journey Out of the Torment of Madness
by Lori Schiller (Author), Amanda Bennett (Author)

Schiller's gripping, heart-rending and ultimately triumphant story of her journey into madness and back to reality is told through the voices of Lori and her family, friends and doctor, and captures a rare, astoundingly vivid view into the inner life of a schizophrenic. "A stunning story of courage, persistence, and hope."--Publishers Weekly.

Schizophrenia For Dummies

Schizophrenia For Dummies
by Jerome Levine (Author), Irene S. Levine (Author)

Practical tools for leading a happy, productive life

Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe, and disabling mental disorder that afflicts one percent of the population, an estimated 2.5 million people in America alone. The firsthand advice in this reassuring guide will empower the families and caregivers of schizophrenia patients to take charge, offering expert advice on identifying the warning signs, choosing the right health professional, understanding currently available drugs and those on the horizon (as well as their side effects), and evaluating traditional and alternative therapies.

Schizophrenia Revealed: From Neurons to Social Interactions

Schizophrenia Revealed: From Neurons to Social Interactions
by Michael Foster Green (Author)

A modern view of schizophrenia based on neuroscience that goes far beyond the symptoms of the illness. "Green has lifted the bar in this realm of explanatory neuroscience-based psychiatry. If you wish to read an enjoyable and instructive primer on what we know about schizophrenia at the beginning of the 21st century, you could do no better than to choose Schizophrenia Revealed." —New England Journal of Medicine

Me, Myself, and Them: A Firsthand Account of One Young Person's Experience with Schizophrenia (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative)

Me, Myself, and Them: A Firsthand Account of One Young Person's Experience with Schizophrenia (Adolescent Mental Health Initiative)
by Kurt Snyder (Author), Raquel E. Gur M.D. (Author), Linda Wasmer Andrews (Author)

During his second semester at college, Kurt Snyder became convinced that he was about to discover a fabulously important mathematical principle, spending hours lost in daydreams about numbers and symbols. In time, his thoughts took a darker turn, and he became preoccupied with the idea that cars were following him, or that strangers wanted to harm him. Kurt's mind had been hijacked by schizophrenia, a severe mental disorder that typically strikes during the late teen or young adult years.
In Me, Myself, and Them, Kurt, now an adult, looks back from the vantage point of recovery and eloquently describes the debilitating changes in thoughts and perceptions that took hold of his life during his teens and twenties. As a memoir, this book is remarkable for its unvarnished look at the...

The Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia: Helping Your Loved One Get the Most Out of Life

The Complete Family Guide to Schizophrenia: Helping Your Loved One Get the Most Out of Life
by Kim T. Mueser PhD (Author), Susan Gingerich MSW (Author)

Will the person you love ever get better? Chances are you've grappled with the question. With care and support from their families, people with schizophrenia can and do make vast improvements. Noted therapists Kim Mueser and Susan Gingerich deepen your understanding of the illness and cover a wide range of effective treatments. Based on decades of research and experience, they offer pragmatic suggestions for dealing with depression, psychosis, and other symptoms. They show you how to prioritize needs, resolve everyday problems, and encourage your loved one to set life goals. Plus, individual sections highlight special issues for parents, children, siblings, and partners. Whether you’re facing schizophrenia for the first time or you’ve dealt with its impact for years, you’ll discover...

Finding Alice

Finding Alice
by Melody Carlson (Author)

Sliding into the Rabbit Hole… Would She Ever Return?

On the surface, Alice Laxton seems no different from any other college girl: bright, inquisitive, excited about the life ahead of her. But for years, a genetic time bomb has been ticking away. Because of Alice’s near-genius intelligence, teachers and counselors have always made excuses for her “little idiosyncrasies.” But during a stress-filled senior year at college, a new world of voices, visions, and unexplainable “knowledge” causes Alice to begin to lose her grip on reality.

As Alice’s schizophrenia progresses, she experiences a disturbing religious “awakening,” believing that God and angels and demons are speaking to her. When others attempt to intervene, Alice is subjected to a wide range of...

Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia

Recovered, Not Cured: A Journey Through Schizophrenia
by Richard McLean (Author)

This very personal exploration of schizophrenia explores each stage, from the early signs and reactions from friends and family to seeking help and the challenges of recovery. McLean bravely shares his paranoid delusions and offers both a verbal and a visual experience by including digital artwork he created to help objectify and control his impulses and fears. As McLean relates his experiences step by step, issues of sexuality, identity, and drug abuse are discussed, along with the overarching issues relating to mental health and the medical profession. Messages from online posters who either have suffered from mental illness or have cared for the mentally ill are included throughout, adding more perspectives to the author's personal experiences. This powerful combination of words and...

Getting Your Life Back Together When You Have Schizophrenia

Getting Your Life Back Together When You Have Schizophrenia
by Roberta Temes (Author)

Despite recent advances in medicine and psychology, schizophrenia remains a complex and challenging disease. In this practical manual, Roberta Temes explains what the disease is, describes treatment options and resources, and presents an innovative 'collaborative cure' that brings together a support team to help the person with schizophrenia lead a fuller life.

ABC News 20/20 Schizophrenia

ABC News 20/20 Schizophrenia

It's all in their minds: visions, voices, taunting, never ending, driving them crazy or worse. It's hard to imagine, but now, an amazing device lets you feel their pain. The technology lets you go inside the mind of a schizophrenic. See what they see. Hear what they hear. Using the technique of virtual reality, Janssen Pharmaceuticals has developed a device to stimulate the visual and auditory hallucinations of a schizophrenic patient. Dr. Timothy Johnson explores the world of people struggling with the voices within. This "20/20" show contains the following additional stories: Victim's Comp Windsheilds

© 2010 BrightSurf.com