Schizophrenia:
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Bristol Myers Squibb’s new oral medicine, Cobenfy, for the treatment of schizophrenia in adults.
- Schizophrenia is a chronic, severe mental disorderthat affects the way a person thinks, acts, expresses emotions, perceives reality, and relates to others.
- It mostly affects young adultsin the productive age group.
- One in every 100 people experiences schizophrenia and men are twice as likely to develop this condition as compared to women.
- It can differ from person to person, but they generally fall into three main categories: psychotic, negative, and cognitive.
- Psychotic symptoms include Hallucinations, Delusions, thought disorder, Movement disorder.
- Negative symptoms include loss of motivation, loss of interest or enjoyment in daily activities, withdrawal from social life, difficulty showing emotions, and difficulty functioning normally.
- Cognitive symptoms include problems in attention, concentration, and memory.
- Though there is no cure for schizophrenia, a variety of antipsychotic medications are effective in reducing the psychotic symptoms present in the acute phase of the illness.
