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Therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) is a branch of clinical chemistry and clinical pharmacology that specializes in the measurement of medication levels in blood. Its main focus is on drugs with a narrow therapeutic range , i.e. drugs that can easily be under- or overdosed. [ 1 ]
The term neuroleptic is often used as a synonym for antipsychotic, even though – strictly speaking – the two terms are not interchangeable. Antipsychotic drugs are a subgroup of neuroleptic drugs, because the latter have a wider range of effects. [287] [288] Antipsychotics are a type of psychoactive or psychotropic medication. [289] [290]
Psychiatric Intensive Care Units or PICUs are specialist twenty-four hour inpatient wards that provide intensive assessment and comprehensive treatment to individuals during the most acute phase of a serious mental illness.
Typical antipsychotics block the dopamine 2 receptor (D2) receptor, causing a tranquilizing effect. [5] It is thought that 60–80% of D2 receptors need to be occupied for antipsychotic effect. [5] For reference, the typical antipsychotic haloperidol tends to block about 80% of D2 receptors at doses ranging from 2 to 5 mg per day. [5]
In general, contraindications to antipsychotic switching are cases in which the risk of switching outweighs the potential benefit. Contraindications to antipsychotic switching include effective treatment of an acute psychotic episode, patients stable on a LAI antipsychotic with a history of poor adherence, and stable patients with a history of self-injurious behavior, violent behavior, or ...
Clozapine, sold under the brand name Clozaril among others, is a psychiatric medication and was the first atypical antipsychotic to be discovered. [7] It is used primarily to treat people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder who have had an inadequate response to two other antipsychotics, or who have been unable to tolerate other drugs due to extrapyramidal side effects.
Many patients will not develop these side effects, although there is still a significant possibility of risks associated with Antipsychotic usage. The percentage of patients affected by side effects like Tardive dyskinesia is significantly high and estimated to be a 20-50% prevalence. [1] [2]
Amisulpride is approved and used at low doses in the treatment of dysthymia and major depressive disorder. [10] [20] [11] [21] [22] [23] Whereas typical doses used in schizophrenia block postsynaptic dopamine D 2-like receptors and reduce dopaminergic neurotransmission, low doses of amisulpride preferentially block presynaptic dopamine D 2 and D 3 autoreceptors and thereby disinhibit dopamine ...