Schizophrenia

... Radio New Zealand - ba href=/schizophrenia/a/b group says Rotorua attack shows families' vulnerability /* Excluding old verisons of IE etc */ @import'/__data/assets/file/31133/global.css'; @import'/__data/assets/file/31166/section-news.css'; @import'/__data/assets/file/31171/extra-station.css'; /* */ Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aoteoroa Main navigation list National Radio Concert FM News RNZ International Sound Archives Time:5:33 pm on 29 Mar Sam listens to National Radio show audio window Search Search Advanced Search Current Location in Site RNZ Home News Latest News ba href=/schizophrenia/a/b group says Rotorua attack shows families' vulnerability Posted at 4:39pm on 29 Mar 2006 The organisation that supports the families of mentally-ill people says an attack on an elderly Rotorua woman shows how vulnerable caregivers are.

The 73-year-old widow, who was the sole caregiver for her 41-year old schizophrenic son, had her finger bitten off and her eyes gouged and may lose her sight.

Supporting Families, the former ba href=/schizophrenia/a/b Fellowship, says caregivers are most at risk when the person they care for is deteriorating and sees them as a threat.

Emma Dore from Supporting Families says it could have helped the Rotorua woman, had it known of her plight, but clinical mental health teams do not always tell families where to go to for support.

She says a recent survey found most caregivers of those with chronic mental illness are women, and many give up paid jobs to look after a rela...

...ba href=/schizophrenia/a/b many, many years ago," he said.

She says he`s been in and out of treatment centers.

The regional Mental Health and Mental Retardation Center was currently overseeing his outpatient care.

"He`s able to function really well when he`s on his medication," said DeLeon.

"With just a little encouragement, he does all right if he stays on his medication."She says she was shocked to hear that Eric had broken into the Ransom Canyon home and stabbed someone.

But she says there were some warning signs and they tried to get him help the Thursday before the incident."My husband tried to contact MHMR to try and get him evaluated, because my husband could see his personality was deterioating and we needed someone to evaluate him," said DeLeon.She says they thought Eric needed to be back in a treatment facility under constant supervision, but MHMR denied their request for help."After many calls, he was able to talk to someone and apparently they told him he didn`t meet the requirements to have someone come out and access him," said DeLeon.

The MHMR center says each call for help is evaluated on risk of danger and risk of immediate deterioration.

But the center is prohibited by law to say if they denied or accepted the DeLeons` request.Rebecca says the center didn`t help Eric when he needed it most."I feel personally that they failed Eric and they didn`t do their job taking care of what they`re supposed to do," she said.

The DeLeon family says Eric`s mental illness does not ...

...ba href=/schizophrenia/a/b and other diseases.

"If this one fails, we have a lot of others in line," Cook said.

The compounds target receptors in the brain that control anxiety, sedation, muscle relaxation and amnesia.

One of the compounds that affects anxiety has been licensed by Bristol-Myers Squibb - a pharmaceutical company with revenue of $19.2 billion last year - for an undisclosed amount of money.

Pharmaceutical licensing agreements typically include an upfront payment and royalties of 2% to 7% of sales, less certain expenses, if the compound results in a drug that wins approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

"They put a significant amount of money on the table," said Abbas Ourmazd, UWM's vice chancellor for research.

The compound has the same effect as drugs such as Valium and Xanax without such side effects as drowsiness, amnesia and muscle weakness.

It also is not habit forming.

Existing drugs affect all six so-called GABA receptors - Cook refers to them as "Valium" receptors because the drug binds to most of the six.

Some of those receptors, however, produce unwanted side effects.

The compounds developed by Cook and his lab affect specific receptors, eliminating the side effects in animal tests.

Offshoots of his research have led to compounds that target similar receptors in specific parts of the brain.

That has resulted in compounds that show potential in treating memory loss, alcoholism, ba href=/schizophrenia/a/b, epilepsy and other diseases.

Pharmaceutical companies have develop...