FDA approval for Cobenfy casts light on schizophrenia’s wickedness Premium
The Hindu
FDA-approved Cobenfy offers a novel treatment for schizophrenia, targeting cholinergic receptors instead of dopamine, with potential side-effects.
Trigger warning: suicide
On September 26, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a drug called Cobenfy to treat schizophrenia. Cobenfy is a combination of xanomeline and trospium chloride that has a novel mechanism of action that steers clear of older drugs’ side-effects, too. It has side-effects of its own, of course.
Schizophrenia is one of the most serious of all psychiatric disorders. It has life-changing consequences, including social isolation, stigma, and diminished prospects of finding a partner. Persons with schizophrenia have a life expectancy lower by 13-15 years, with contributions from weight gain, poor dietary habits, smoking, and comorbid substance use. Five percent of people with schizophrenia die by suicide.
Schizophrenia affects one in a hundred people in their lifetime. Newer evidence has challenged the idea that it is equally prevalent in both sexes, finding it is slightly more common in men. It typically develops during late adolescence and early adulthood. In men, it peaks in the early 20s; new cases among women are also seen in the mid- to late 40s.
Appreciating Cobenfy’s novelty and the difference it can make requires awareness of the various effects of schizophrenia, its diagnosis, and scientists’ understanding of what causes it.
Most people who develop schizophrenia display prodromal symptoms. They last for a little under 12 months on average and may include unexplainable feelings of inner change, development of novel spiritual and philosophical interests, anger, irritability, anxiety, depression, and social withdrawal.
The clinical phenotype of schizophrenia falls into three categories: reality distortion, disorganisation, and negative symptoms. The so-called positive symptoms are characterised by delusions, hallucinations, and a pattern of speech that is difficult to follow; the technical name for this is formal thought disorder.
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