Medication treatments for schizophrenia: translating research findings into better outcomes

The atypical or novel antipsychotics have advanced the treatment of schizophrenia, especially given their reduced extrapyramidal side effect liability. In this article, the authors examine a number of recently published or presented studies of the atypical antipsychotics, many of them post approval studies, that shed additional light on this class of medications. Clozapine stands alone as a medication for treatment-resistant schizophrenia, but the other first-line atypical agents appear to reduce relapse rates during maintenance treatment and to have less of a long-term risk for tardive dyskinesia. However, additional research is needed to distinguish the atypical antipsychotics from each other and to better understand their non-neurological side effects.