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Mirtazapine augmentation enhances cognitive and reduces negative symptoms in schizophrenia patients treated with
Sung Joon Cho1, Keunyoung Yook, Borah Kim
1Department of Psychiatry, CHA Bundang Medical Center, CHA University School of Medicine, 351 Yatap-Dong, Bundang-Gu, Seongnam-Si, Kyounggi-Do 463-712, South Korea.
Abstract:
This preliminary study aimed to determine if adding mirtazapine to risperidone might improve negative and cognitive symptoms in schizophrenia. In an 8-week, double-blind clinical trial, we randomly assigned 21 stabilized outpatients with schizophrenia undergoing risperidone treatment to adjunctive treatment with either mirtazapine or a placebo. The mirtazapine group exhibited a statistically significant improvement in cognitive function, including vocabulary and immediate memory, and negative symptoms (as measured by negative symptom scales) and showed an adverse effect of 5.83 kg mean weight gain. This study suggests augmenting risperidone with mirtazapine can effectively improve both negative and some cognitive symptoms of schizophrenia.
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