Levetiracetam for Schizophrenia
This study is evaluating whether levetiracetam may have positive impacts for individuals with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
See full descriptionAbout the trial for Schizophrenia
Treatment Groups
This trial involves 2 different treatments. Levetiracetam is the primary treatment being studied. Participants will be divided into 2 treatment groups. Some patients will receive a placebo treatment. The treatments being tested are in Phase 1 & 2 and have already been tested with other people.
About The Treatment
Eligibility
This trial is for patients born any sex aged 18 and older. There are 3 eligibility criteria to participate in this trial as listed below.
Approximate Timelines
Measurement Requirements
This trial is evaluating whether Levetiracetam will improve 1 primary outcome and 1 secondary outcome in patients with Schizophrenia. Measurement will happen over the course of 4 weeks.
Patient Q & A Section
Can schizophrenia be cured?
There is an absence of literature that addresses whether schizophrenia can be cured. Many authors have expressed some optimism that medication can lessen the course of the illness. The possibility of the "cure" for schizophrenia remains unrealised. However, recent advances in treatment of the disease make a realistic scenario to conceive the possibility of a cure for schizophrenia.
What are common treatments for schizophrenia?
A wide variety of psychotherapy interventions are used to treat schizophrenia including psychodynamic, cognitive-behavioral, cognitive, acceptance, and community-based. In addition, a large number of psychotherapeutic medications are prescribed to treat schizophrenia-related symptoms. Finally, a great variety of other therapies including art, dance, and music therapy are also used to treat schizophrenic disorders.\n
How many people get schizophrenia a year in the United States?
The annual incidence of schizophrenia is higher than that estimated in the U.S. population. The overall prevalence of schizophrenia is estimated as 8,000 per 100,000.
What is schizophrenia?
Schizophrenia is a disorder in which people have strong and distorted beliefs and inability to control behaviour, which is often mistaken or thought to be the result of the person not being in touch with reality. Schizophrenic individuals typically suffer delusions, hallucinations and disorganisation in everyday actions. Schizophrenic patients are often prescribed antipsychotic drugs because these agents are effective in alleviating mental health symptoms. Despite these drugs, patients do not get a real improvement in their daily lives.
What causes schizophrenia?
Given the widespread nature of the illness and its social determinants, there may be more than just one cause that drives development of the illness.
What are the signs of schizophrenia?
Signs of schizophrenia involve hallucinations and delusions. Hallucinations may be simple noise, which is common with hearing loss, or they can be disturbing. Delusions occur in people who have hallucinations and can be simple or complex. Patients may have bizarre ideas which are not always true, not always in the context of the disease. Patients may also refuse to accept reality. They can be paranoid, or they can be psychotic without delusions. A psychotic state can involve psychosis without delusions. This includes psychosis without hallucinations and delusions.
What are the common side effects of levetiracetam?
The present data indicate that there were a number of common side effects of levetiracetam: Mild GI disturbances, fatigue, and headache have already been reported elsewhere. All these side effects are reversible on levetiracetam dose reduction or discontinuation. However, at this time we are unable to recommend any dose adjustments on the basis of the results.
Have there been other clinical trials involving levetiracetam?
No significant reductions in total or positive symptoms for levetiracetam were found in this pilot study with patients receiving the highest dose of the drug.
Has levetiracetam proven to be more effective than a placebo?
The statistically significant increase in P50 amplitude in the levetiracetam group compared to the placebo group supports previous results that have been demonstrated in normal subjects as well as in patients with epilepsy.
Does schizophrenia run in families?
This first direct empirical study on genetic and familial risk for schizophrenia demonstrates that familial risk, especially of individuals diagnosed with the disorder in adulthood, is substantially elevated relative to the general population. Results from a recent paper contribute to the accumulating evidence for a genetic component to schizophrenia and refute the contention that the familial risk of schizophrenia is a consequence of random-pairing.
How does levetiracetam work?
Levetiracetam increased the threshold for the maximal inhibitory effects of phencyclidine, an anti-schizophrenia drug, without affecting its minimum inhibitory ED95 values. Data from a recent study support recent in vitro animal and human studies indicating that the anticonvulsant levetiracetam has a modulatory effect upon GABAergic function. Further evidence is presented to support the pharmacological rationale that levetiracetam has in modulating the effect of drugs with central excitatory effects.
What is the primary cause of schizophrenia?
The primary cause of schizophrenia is not genetically determined but is instead influenced by environment and the person's genetics. These influences can be influenced by drugs they are prescribed on, the stress of which may lead to symptoms of schizophrenia. However, schizophrenia cannot be explained purely by environmental factors as these factors vary between cultures