(NAPSA)—Research has shown that during a two-year period as many as 75 percent of patients with schizophrenia have difficulty taking their oral medication on a regular basis. In fact, missing medications has been cited as a major barrier to treatment success in schizophrenia. The good news is that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved an injectable, long-acting medication for schizophrenia. For Paul R. of California, treatment with this new prescription medicine has meant getting back on the road to recovery and taking back the independence that was lost when he began suffering from the illness. At age 44, Paul was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was immediately given oral medication to help manage his symptoms. However, he often skipped taking his medication because it wasdifficult for him to tolerate. The medication also was a daily reminderof his illness. Because of these lapses in his treatment, Paul’s symptoms kept re-emerging and continued to interfere with his daily life. “After I was diagnosed, I kept working but it was difficult because of the side effects from the medication I was taking,” said Paul. “When I started skipping my medication, the symptoms Advanced technology is helping people with schizophrenia lead more normal lives. returned and voices became unbearable.” Gradually, everything that was normal in Paul’s life fell apart. After his schizophrenia symptoms becameso severe that he was fired from his job, Paul and his physician decided he would enroll in a clinical trial for the long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication RISPERDAL ConstTA™ [(risperidone) long-acting injection]. Since taking the medication, Paul has been able to gain control of his symptoms and feels the “best I have in years.” How does the medication work? The treatment uses an advanced drug-delivery technology that is given by injection every two weeks to provide consistent medication levels. The technology works by essentially encapsulating drugs into tiny spheres that break down slowly and release the medication at a controlled rate. The solution is water based, it is easier to inject and patients have reported minimal pain or discomfort, upon injection. Charles H., another participant in a clinical study for the medication, saw his life change when he started treatment with it a year ago. “This medication really works for me. I now live on my own, something I wasn’t able to do before because of myillness.” “Relapse prevention is the cornerstone of the recovery process for a person with schizophrenia. Therefore, the first goal of medication is relapse prevention. Once that’s accomplished, you start looking for ways to help people get the most out of their lives,” said Peter Weiden, M.D., a psychiatrist at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in New York. “A long-acting injectable medication is a tool that can help people stop worrying about their medicine on a daily basis and get back to what’s important, like friends, family and the goals they’ve set for themselves.” For more information about schizophrenia, visit www.mental wellness.com. The accounts above represent unique patient experiences with RISPERDAL CONSTA. Individual results with RisPeERDAL CONSTA may vary. In clinical trials, Risperdal Consta was generally well tolerated; however, it was associated with certain side effects. Treatment-emergent adverse events with an incidence of 5 percent or greater in at least one of the Risperdal Consta groups (25 mg or 50 mg) and at least twice that of placebo were: somnolence, akathisia, parkinsonism, dyspepsia, constipation, dry mouth, fatigue and weight increase. Prescribing should be consistent with the need to minimize the risk of tardive dyskinesia;if its signs and symptoms appear, discontinuation of Risperdal Consta should be considered. In the integrated database of muiltiple-dose studies the incidence of tardive dyskinesia was 0.6 percent (9 / 1499 patients). For more information,visit www.risperdalconsta.com or www.mentalwellness.com.
