ATLANTA – Over the last 20 years, there have been many signs of progress in treating schizophrenia, two experts said at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.
In this video, Dr. Henry A. Nasrallah and Dr. Michael Y. Hwang review the latest research in everything from genetic profiles predisposed to schizophrenia to their relationship with addiction, as well as the interplay between schizophrenia. They also discuss medical and psychiatric comorbidities – particularly obsessive-compulsive disorder. “We did a study where we looked at the onset of schizophrenia vs. the onset of OCD,” Dr. Nasrallah said. “We found that OCD symptoms precede the onset of psychosis by about a year.”
In addition, Dr. Nasrallah and Dr. Hwang discuss the impact of heterogeneity in schizophrenia not only when it comes to identifying appropriate interventions but also to conducting clinical trials.
Dr. Nasrallah is the Sydney W. Souers Professor and chair of the department of neurology and psychiatry at Saint Louis University. He has multiple disclosures, including Alkermes, Boehringer Ingelheim, Lundbeck, Otsuka, Sunovion, and others. Dr. Hwang, a staff physician at the East Orange (N.J.) Veterans Administration Medical Center, did not have any relevant disclosures.
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