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Page: << Prev | 1 | 2 | 3 After the initial eight weeks, Sikich's group followed the participants for a year. "By the time we got to a year, only 10 to 20 percent of the kids were able to stay on the medicine a whole year. Whereas we believe this illness is likely to need lifetime treatments. We clearly need better drugs that both work better and, even more importantly, have fewer side effects," she said.
Insel agreed the response to these medications isn't "all that great."
"These are kids who are pretty ill," Insel said. "It reminds us again that the medications we have may be necessary but not sufficient. We need to do much better both with psychosocial treatments as well coming up with a third-generation of medications that are just far more effective."
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Until that time, Insel thinks that doctors should make prescribing decisions based upon which medication, old or new, is best for an individual patient. Although the older drugs are generally cheaper, cost should not be a criteria used when prescribing, Insel insisted.
"These findings ought to be used to open up choice, not to restrict it," Insel said. "We don't want to make things totally about cost."
More information
For more on schizophrenia, visit the National Institute of Mental Health.
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