SCIENCE FILE: An exploration of issues and trends affecting science, medicine and the environment : New Drug Helps Restore Schizophrenics’ Personality
<i> From Times staff and wire reports</i>
Harvard researchers have developed a new drug for treating schizophrenia that, when used in conjunction with existing drugs, helps restore the patient’s personality. Existing drugs, such as Thorazine and Haldol, are effective in reducing the hallucinations and delusions associated with the disorder, but do not affect the dulling of the emotions and the lack of initiative associated with schizophrenia.
In a preliminary study on nine patients, Dr. Joseph T. Coyle and his colleagues report in the August American Journal of Psychiatry that the drug D-cycloserine produced a significant increase in the patient’s thought processes and their ability to express emotions. Schizophrenia disables nearly 1% of adult Americans.
