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Tardive Dyskinesia Case Study

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Tardive dyskinesia is a persistent movement disorder that can result from a prolonged use of antipsychotics and is more prominent with the use of atypical antipsychotics. My preceptor decided to start the patient on Clozapine because of its effectiveness with previous clients that had tardive dyskinesia. According to my preceptor, Clozapine has shown signs of minimizing symptoms of tardive dyskinesia. Treatment did not start immediately as the patient had to get baseline labs, which included absolute neutraphil count, blood glucose, and lipid levels. Patient's weight, height, and BMI were also obtained. AIMS scale was not used with this patient as it does not include tremors. Effectiveness was based on the patients subjective account, and physical observation. Clozapine was started at a low dose and titrated up to 125mg PO QHS. Patient is getting weekly lab work for absolute neutraphil count. To date, there is no sufficient data available that suggests a cure for this movement disorder. However, the question is, among adults, what available treatments have shown the greatest effectiveness in minimizing the symptoms of tardive …show more content…

It is estimated that the annual incidence of tardive dyskinesia is at 5% (Lerner, Miodownik, & Lerner, 2015), with an average prevalence of 20% among those treated with antipsychotics (Khouzam, 2015). When it comes to tardive dyskinesia (TD), along with many other diseases, it is easier to prevent it than to treat it. In preventing TD, many clinicians prefer switching to an atypical antipsychotic because of earlier research that showed a 2.5-fold decrease in the development of TD (Lerner et al., 2015). However, new research is showing that the incidence between typical and atypical antipsychotics is not as significant as previously thought, with an incidence of 5.5% and 3.9%, respectively (Lerner et al., 2015). Regardless of the incidence and prevalence rates, TD deserves much attention because of its potential lasting effects. In treating and managing the symptoms of TD, evidence-based research has shown that there are some treatments that are

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