Since Emil Kraepelin delineated dementia praecox, now known as schizophrenia, the medical community is still trying to decode the most complex mental health disorder. Dr Tonmoy Sharma, mental health specialist, has been a notable figure in this ongoing investigation.
Despite the prevalence of clinical guidelines, schizophrenia is essentially still a broad clinical illness characterized by reported symptoms, behavioral deficits, and various course patterns. Several research studies have linked neurocognitive impairment, brain dysmorphology, and neurochemical abnormalities to the disease. Notwithstanding this, none of these variables has been proven to have the sensitivity and specificity anticipated of a diagnosis.
In a nutshell, the presence of a unique brain disorder that underpins schizophrenia is only a theory.
Antipsychotic Drug Effects on The Brain Morphology in First-Episode Psychosis, The Real Hope?
The HGDH study group, a network of internationally renowned psychiatric professionals, pioneered several groundbreaking investigations linked to schizophrenia against the foreground of an escalating number of research data. Dr Tonmoy Sharma, along with Prof. Robin M. Murray and other mental health luminaries and key members of the HGDH study group, investigated the effects of antipsychotics on schizophrenic patients.
In the study, Antipsychotic Drug Effects on The Brain Morphology in First-Episode Psychosis, Dr Tonmoy Sharma, author and mental health specialist, and his team sought to test whether olanzapine-treated patients (second-generation atypical antipsychotic) have far less variation in whole-brain gray matter volumes and lateral ventricle volumes over the course of time than haloperidol-treated (first-generation antipsychotic) patients.
With the sampling size of 263 healthy volunteers and those who had dealt with first-episode psychosis (DSM-IV), neurocognitive and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessments were performed up to 104 weeks.
After continuous random allocation of antipsychotics, the findings revealed that 161 of the 263 randomized patients got baseline and at least one postbaseline MRI examination. There was no change in gray matter volume in a matched sample of healthy volunteers evaluated simultaneously. Thus, gray matter volume decreased significantly in haloperidol-treated patients but not in olanzapine-treated individuals.
Between-treatment MRI volume changes were substantially different in patients with first-episode psychosis. Haloperidol, but not olanzapine, was linked to significant reductions in gray matter volume. Treatment effects on brain volume and schizophrenia psychopathology appear to be associated, as per ad hoc analysis. Mental health specialist Dr Tonmoy Sharma believes that therefore, the study established the possibility that the differing treatment effects on brain morphology are owing to haloperidol-related toxicity or olanzapine’s superior therapeutic effects.
Future clinical trials should delve into whether the early stages of psychosis are linked to changes in brain volume and whether antipsychotics can influence the disease’s course neurobiologically.
Author Dr Tonmoy Sharma never ceased to continue investigating schizophrenia for the patients’ cause. His expertise in Schizophrenia isn’t confined to research; he also helps portray a realistic picture of the illness and its effects on society.
As the CEO of Sovereign Health, a prominent mental health and behavioral facility in America, Dr. Sharma continued to dispel the stigma surrounding schizophrenia. Even more so, his pivotal role in challenging public perceptions of mental illness and improving treatment outcomes through a combination of Measurement-Based Care and rehabilitation has proven beneficial. Not only did the culmination of his works significantly alter the medical field, but it incessantly reached those who are sincerely seeking hope in the face of schizophrenia.
