"Fuzzy Thinking" Is A Symptom Of Depression And Bipolar Disorder
(IN PHOTO)Andreas Lubitz runs the Airportrace half marathon in Hamburg in this September 13, 2009 file photo. The co-pilot who appears to have deliberately crashed Germanwings plane carrying 149 passengers into the French Alps received psychiatric treatment for a "serious depressive episode" six years ago, German tabloid Bild reported on March 27, 2015. Prosecutors in France, after listening to the cockpit voice recorders, offered no motive for why Andreas Lubitz, 27, would take the controls of the Airbus A320, lock the captain out of the cockpit and deliberately set it veering down from cruising altitude at 3,000 feet per minute. REUTERS

A new set of more effective drug might just be around the corner for the treatment of negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia. The new experimental drug, called cariprazine, has been found to be more potent than the drugs currently prescribed by the medical experts for management of schizophrenia.

According to the study findings presented at the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology conference, cariprazine effectively treated the negative symptoms associated with schizophrenia, including apathy. The experimental drug is manufactured by Gedeon Richter, a pharmaceutical company based in Hungary.

Currently, Gedeon Richter is manufacturing the drug for the management of patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. However, the company is also conducting a series of tests to see the effectiveness of the drug as a secondary treatment for patients with major depression.

The symptoms associated with schizophrenia fall into three categories – positive, negative and cognitive. While most of the antipsychotics are able to treat only the positive symptoms, the researchers found that cariprazine helped manage negative symptoms in the patients.

For the study that lasted over 26 weeks, the researchers recruited 461 patients suffering from schizophrenia around the world. The patients were divided into two groups. The first group received risperidone, an antipsychotic commonly prescribed for treatment of schizophrenia; while the other group was treated using cariprazine.

The researchers found that cariprazine treated the negative symptoms more effectively than risperidone with no major side effects. In fact, the common side effects, such as headache and insomnia, were caused by risperidone and not the experimental drug.

Schizophrenia affects nearly one per cent of Americans. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, it is “a chronic, severe, and disabling brain disorder that has affected people throughout history.”

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