Clozapine has a chequered history. Licensed in Germany in 1974 then pulled from the shelves after a spate of deaths. It was cautiously re-introduced in 1978, if memory serves. Schizophrenia is as old as human history and very large cohort studies suggest it is partly genetic and partly environmental. Study of monozygotic twin give anywhere from 20%-50% concordance. Recent studies have shown that although identical twins start with identical DNA, divergences occurs. That kind of undermines research on DNA claiming it to be 78% genetic. I'm dubious of any researchers who can nail it down to such values. Good for funding, not good for objective results. We know some broad environmental trends that alter the incidence rate a little but it remains an abiding mystery as to the exact cause. We may be able to test although mental health charities aren't keen on the idea and I can certainly see why. My modest proposal is not a new idea. The data has been around for 30+ years.
In my country, only quadraplegia is considered more disabling. I've met some great people who suffer bouts. Often these are the refractive group, it seems. It looks like the initial cloazpine treatment regime is inpatient only. That does not inspire confidence. I've met people who were fine for 3/4 of the day but the couple of hours leading up to medication saw them drift into a different state. Quite disturbing and certainly heartbreaking. It looks like the current medication is seen as acceptable which I find unacceptable. Perfectly decent people who could have totally normal lives except for taking a tablet 2 or 3 times a day. A tablet that doesn't knock 10 years of their lifespan, that doesn't cause the chronic toxicity and that is not just a result of the most profit to be made is eminently possible; may already have been achieved. But this is the way drug companies make money. Once you know they will spend more on promoting a drug (through it's patent-span) than they will have done arriving at the drug.
In my country, only quadraplegia is considered more disabling. I've met some great people who suffer bouts. Often these are the refractive group, it seems. It looks like the initial cloazpine treatment regime is inpatient only. That does not inspire confidence. I've met people who were fine for 3/4 of the day but the couple of hours leading up to medication saw them drift into a different state. Quite disturbing and certainly heartbreaking. It looks like the current medication is seen as acceptable which I find unacceptable. Perfectly decent people who could have totally normal lives except for taking a tablet 2 or 3 times a day. A tablet that doesn't knock 10 years of their lifespan, that doesn't cause the chronic toxicity and that is not just a result of the most profit to be made is eminently possible; may already have been achieved. But this is the way drug companies make money. Once you know they will spend more on promoting a drug (through it's patent-span) than they will have done arriving at the drug.