SAN DIEGO, CA Schizophrenia is a complex type of psychotic
mental illness characterized by thoughts that are uncoupled from
reality. Huge gains in the effective treatment of individuals
with the disease began in the 1950s with the development of the
first generation of antipsychotic drugs. The medications allowed
physicians to treat the positive effects of the illness
(delusions and hallucinations) and, to a lesser extent, the
negative symptoms (apathy). The second generation of
antipsychotics known as atypical antipsychotics (AAP) began in
1990. These newer medicines have proven as effective in treating
the positive aspects of the disease and more effective in
combating the negative ones. As is the case with nearly all
medications, antipsychotics have side affects, including weight
gain and some other risk factors of metabolic syndrome, which
puts an individual at greater risk of heart disease and type 2
diabetes. Physicians are concerned that these side effects will
cause their patients to stop taking their