Schizophrenia is a brain disorder associated with unusual
or bizarre thinking or behavior.
The following are common symptoms associated
with schizophrenia:
-
Hearing things that other people cannot hear, such as noises
or the voices of people whispering or talking
- Having the feeling that someone is going out of the way
to give you a hard time or trying to hurt you
- Having visions or seeing things that other people cannot
see
- Feeling that people are talking about you or taking special
notice of you
- Receiving special messages from the TV, radio or newspaper
- Feeling you have special powers to do things that other
people cannot do
- Having strange sensations in your body or on your skin
- Smelling or tasting things that other people cannot smell
or taste
- Having severe difficulty concentrating and expressing
oneself verbally
- Acting in ways others see as unusual or bizarre
- Withdrawal from normal social, family, and professional
relations
Most of the time, the onset of symptoms
of schizophrenia occurs during late adolescence or early
adulthood, and each year 100,000 young Americans are diagnosed
with schizophrenia. Once diagnosed, there is a very substantial
chance that the patient may have at least some partial disability
for most of his/her life. Medication can greatly reduce
this risk.
Approximately 1% of the American population
suffers from schizophrenia, and yet in the United States,
public-funding supports only about $7 per patient per year
for schizophrenia research. (Approximately $150 per patient
per year is allocated for cancer or heart disease research).
The contribution of the pharmaceutical industry in finding
new treatments for this devastating illness has been much
more substantial.
Schizophrenia is increasingly treated with
newer medications that enable a person to lead a productive
life, without many stigmatizing behavioral side effects
that plagued patients on the earlier antipsychotic drugs.
Quantum Laboratories has actively participated in development
of these newer medications and continues to investigate
other candidates of this class.
