Recent developments in the drug treatment of schizophrenia

The author reviews six topics relevant to the drug treatment of schizophrenia. The quantitative effectiveness of promazine is of interest with respect to the structural models of the phenothiazines and the dopamine theory of schizophrenia. The quantitative effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs is also important in evaluating new agents and therefore relevant to a discussion of two newly released neuroleptics, molindone and loxapine. The author's discussion of high-dose treatment of typical acute schizophrenics or treatment-resistant patients reviews the available data and calls attention to the fact that these areas of pharmacologic research have not received sufficient attention.