Essay on Physiological Changes Due to Risperdal

The study done by Nagaraj et al, showed that treatment with risperidone was associated with both improvements in social responsiveness and reduction in target symptoms(13). A key in this study is that other studies used flexible dosing of

Help! The emergency 911 call goes “My child is having one of his psychotic episodes and I don’t know what to do!” A mother’s plea for help as she watches her teenage son’s manic episodes unfold; what is a mother to do? Since then, the teenager has been prescribed several antipsychotic drugs such as Aripiprazole (Abilify), thereafter, Risperidone (Risperdal) and a sleuth of others, but none curtails or controls his mood disorder until he is prescribed Depakote. Confused and perplexed, Depakote is an anti-seizure and an anti-psychotic drug that works by increasing the amount of a special neurotransmitter in the brain (drugwatch.com, nd).

One of the greatest concerns of psychotropic drug use in children and adolescents is that this type of medication is overprescribed. According to a report by the Food and Drug Administration, as of September 2009, “more than 500,000 children and adolescents in America are now taking antipsychotic drugs.” (Wilson, 2010) 500,000 is definitely a large number, but considering the fact that approximately one in ten children in the United States suffer from various mental illnesses, this number is actually quite low. The main reason people believe this medication is overprescribed is because many parents are simply looking for an easy way to quell their child’s hyperactivity. “’Families sometimes feel the need for a quick fix,’ Dr. Gleason said. ‘That’s often the prescription pad. But I’m concerned that when a child sees someone who prescribes but doesn’t do therapy, they’re closing the door that can make longer-lasting change.’” (Wilson, 2010)

Antipsychotics (also known as neuroleptics or major tranquilizers) are a class of psychiatric medication primarily use to manage psychosis (including delusions, hallucinations, or disordered thought), in particular in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, and are increasingly being used in the management of non-psychotic disorders.

Risperdal (Risperidone) has been used for a number of different mental health disorders. It has been used for Schizophrenia, Bipolar I disorder, and to help with irritability in children with Autism. There are a number of different things that will be covered in this paper such as the chemical makeup of the medication, the appearance, side effects, off label use, side effects, administration, and how it works, with other additional information.

In 1955, antipsychotic medications were introduced to help mental disorders. These medications are usually taken orally in which help relieve symptoms for periods of days. The misuse or abuse of the medications are low. There are three generations of antipsychotic medications. The first generation is known for reducing hallucinations and delusions, but not affecting problems like disorientation or depression. An example would be chlorpromazine, brand name being Thorazine. Some negative side effects of taking the first generation drugs are Parkinson’s-like symptoms, tardive dyskinesia, and weight gain. Next, the second generation drugs minimized the outcome of the individual getting Parkinson’s-like symptoms. An example of this generation would be Clozaril. “A unique feature of Clozaril is the 1 to 2 percent chance of developing a potentially lethal blood disease called agranulocytosis” (Levinthal 282). This disease decreases white blood cells and affects the immune system. If early signs of this disease start to appear the patient will stop taking Clozaril and recover. Lastly, the third generation has shown to be the most effective on schizophrenia. Abilify is an example of this generation drug. It does not have a risk of Parkinson’s, tardive dyskinesia, or diabetes. Abilify blocks specific serotonin receptors in which prevents negative side effects from happening. These different

ASD also known as Autism spectrum disorder or simply Autism is a disorder that is very common in children especially in male children and it is known to that mainly affect the behavior, ability to communicate with others, ability to interact socially with others and level of interest to things of people.

It has come to my attention going over teacher files that one of my elementary teachers has a prescription for Risperdal, which is an anti-psychotic medication to treat schizophrenia. It is my job to decide what to do, and if she is a risk to the children if she stops taking her medications. There are a number of factors to consider before making a decision, as well as ethical issues to evaluate concerning this situation. In order to be morally sound in my decision I need to decide what the right action to take is. So first off, I need to get the facts on this medication.

The introduction of Clozapine, marked a turning point in the treatment of schizophrenia, as the first "atypical" antipsychotic drug lacking the propensity to produce ‘extra-pyramidal symptoms’ (associated with the older antipsychotic agents) (Kane et al. 1988). Even though, Clozapine has not conclusively demonstrated its significantly superior record or efficacy for psychosis (Gardner et al. 2005), it has proven exceptional effectiveness, compared to other more traditional antipsychotics (Claghorn et al. 1987). However, Kane et al. (1988) and others have concluded, 30–60% of all schizophrenic patients who fail to respond to typical antipsychotics may respond therapeutically/effectively to Clozapine (Breier et al. (1994) & Iqbal et al. (2003)). This is especially apparent for refractory schizophrenia (Kane et al. 1988), treatment-resistant schizoaffective disorders (Zarate et al. 1995) and aggression (Cohen & Underwood, 1994).

Antipsychotics are generally used to treat psychosis in mental disorders. These disorders include schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (Thyssen et al., 2010). Risperidone is known as an atypical second generation antipsychotic and used in the treatment of a multitude of disorders. This medication can often challenge behavioral problems that are associated with schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorder, bipolar disorder, or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (Schatzberg & Nemeroff, 2013). It is important for the prescriber to be aware of the side effect and any possible adverse reactions that may occur. There can be many detrimental side effects that someone may not enjoy,

Treatment will often include antipsychotics for the illness itself, anticholinergic drugs to help treat extrapyramidal symptoms (movement disorders), that are caused by antipsychotics, and in some cases cognitive remediation. Cognitive remediation techniques are time and labor intensive, because cognitive deficits are multiple and vary from person to person. Such techniques seem to work best when specifically tailored to each patient. ("Schizophrenia Treatment & Management: Approach Considerations, Antipsychotic Pharmacotherapy, Other Pharmacotherapy," 2018). When combined with drug therapies, cognitive remediation is successful. Drugs included in therapy are Risperidone, Clozapine, and Olanzapine, which produce their effects with reduced incidence of extrapyramidal symptoms. Clozapine has the adverse effect of dangerously depressing bone marrow function and the patient must have their blood count checked on a biweekly basis, if white blood cells drop too low, it is discontinued. (Timby & Smith, 2014) Other antipsychotics include Haloperidol, Fluphenazine, Risperidone, and Olanazapine, all of which block dopamine receptors. Common anticholinergic drugs are trihexyphenidyl and benztropine. These drugs should all be taken as prescribed and should never be stopped abruptly due to withdrawal symptoms or more severe adverse

A comparison between schizophrenia and bipolar spectrum disorder focusing on history, etiology, treatment, and symptoms of each disease will introduce the concept of the Continuum Disease Model (CDM) as a basis for further debate and discussion on the controversial designation of schizoaffective disorder (bipolar type/depressive type). The concept of a possible connection between distinct disorders is strongly disputed between many experts due to presence of manic or hypomanic episodes as a clear distinction requiring the designation of bipolar spectrum disorder as opposed to negative and positive schizophrenic symptoms; however, similarities in the disorders including etiology, presence of psychosis, and effectiveness of new atypical antipsychotic treatments may present similar neurological psychopathology. Schizoaffective disorder may present only unipolar depressive symptoms along with negative or positive schizophrenic symptoms but bipolar type will be the focus of discussion. An argument disputing the legitimacy of the CDM will be presented though the stress-diathesis model supports the designation of schizoaffective disorder in the newest edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-V). A deeper look at the mechanisms in the psychopharmacological drug treatments specifically focused on the atypical antipsychotics quetiapine (trade name Seroquel) and lurasidone (trade name Latuda), providing theories of their effects on brain

Risperidone is benzisoxazole derivatives of antipsychotic properties due to its high antagonistic effect on serotonin-5HT2 and dopamine-D2 receptors that magnifies its action in treatment of positive and negative schizophrenia with less extrapyramidal side effects and relapse probability (Rainer, 2008). Chemically it is C23H27FN4O2 (Bladania et al., 2008) (Figure 1). It is a weak base that is practically water insoluble, the solubility is pH dependent, it is highly soluble at acidic pH with significant decrease as pH increases up to pH 6.8 with minimum solubility at pH 8 (Saibi et al., 2012). Its bioavailability is about 70% with high protein binding ability (88%). It is extremely metabolized in liver to the active metabolite 9-hydroxyrisperidone

Atypical antipsychotics – e.g. risperidone. Some atypical also block serotonin receptors. schizophrenia and its onset are discussed on the basis of the biopsychosocial model. Schizophrenia is a serious mental illness “that causes people to lose contact with reality” The core concept of biopsychosocial model is that abnormal behavior and mental disorder can be understood and treated more completely if considerations are given to the biological, psychological, and sociocultural aspects of a person’s problem rather than only one of them. Based on this model, the biopsychosocial theories have been developed to study mental disorder including schizophrenia.

Schizophrenia is a life-long disorder that affects about one percent of the population (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). The cause of this mental illness is still unclear. Studies have suggested that Schizophrenia does not arise from one factor but from a combination of genetic, environmental, and social factors (Liddle, 1987). People diagnosed with Schizophrenia struggle to deal with a multitude of symptoms that make it difficult to function (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Antipsychotic medications are a popular treatment of the symptoms of Schizophrenia (Mueser & McGurk, 2004). Research is constantly being done to develop these medications to enhance the quality of life of those diagnosed with Schizophrenia.