TUESDAY, Aug. 26 (HealthDay News) -- New findings that antipsychotic drugs may not work as scientists have assumed could lead to changes in how the drugs are developed and prescribed, say Duke University Medical Center researchers.

Antipsychotic drugs used to treat schizophrenia and other mental health problems target the D2 receptor inside cells. The Duke researchers found that the biochemical pathways that are linked to this receptor -- and along which the drugs deliver their effects -- may function differently than previously believed.

MONDAY, Aug. 4 (HealthDay News) -- The estrogen estradiol, when combined with antipsychotic drugs, may help relieve psychotic symptoms in women with schizophrenia, an Australian study suggests.

It included 102 women of child-bearing age with schizophrenia. For 28 days, 56 of the women received 100 micrograms of estradiol daily via a skin patch, while the other 46 received a placebo via a skin patch.

The women's psychotic symptoms, including delusions and hallucinatory behavior, were assessed weekly, and those taking estradiol showed a greater improvement in symptoms.

By Amanda Gardner
HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) -- Moving closer to the causes and effective treatment of schizophrenia, researchers say they've found specific gene variations linked to the condition.

Specifically, three rare deletions in the human genome appear to raise the risk of developing the devastating brain disease considerably.

Committing ourselves or a loved one into a mental health facility is frightening. We remember movies where mental health patients run amok, rock uncontrollably or froth at the mouth. Pills are forced down seemingly unwilling patients and half of them don't seem to know why they are there. Doctors and nurses who see this every day can seem unsympathetic. And stories like the recent death of a Jamaican mental health patient who was left to die on the floor of a hospital strike fear in all of us.

So we have all heard about Gay Pride. Black Pride. White Pride (ok, so that last one isn't so, uh, respectable but you know what I mean). We see bumper stickers saying Proud to be Irish (no DOUBT!) or proud to be... whatever you are.

Mad Pride is a growing movement of people with mental illness. They have had parades in several countries including England, Australia, the United States and Canada. They have organizational links in Africa.

By Steven Reinberg
Empower's HealthDay Reporter

MONDAY, May 12 (HealthDay News) -- A gene called COMT, already known for its role in schizophrenia, also plays a significant part in the dangerous obstetric complication known as preeclampsia, a new study finds.

Although the current study was done in mice, the researchers envision a time when the findings could be used as a test to identify women at risk of preeclampsia -- and even as a means of preventing the condition.

CHILDHOOD SCHIZOPHRENIA
By: Amie Peters