In addition, these early clinical findings Tasocitinib supplier suggest the importance of initiating some type of treatment at the CHR- stage, although this is likely

to be psychosocial rather than pharmacological. Following this model, the prodromal phase might be more broadly conceptualized as having an early period and a late period, each with different treatment requirements. In the early prodromal phase, affective symptoms and negative attenuated signs are beginning to emerge and to have some impact on age-dependent Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical functioning. For example, in a large-scale retrospective study of prodromal schizophrenia conducted by Hafner and an der Heiden,63 depression and nonspecific symptoms including impairment in social functioning were evident up to 5 years before the onset of positive Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical symptoms. These findings are mirrored in follow-back studies7,64,65 and genetic high-risk studies.

16,54,66 Furthermore, level of social/role functioning attained by onset of psychosis mediated social consequences 5 years later, indicating that successful Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical intervention in the prodromal period could prevent developmental arrest in these areas.67 Medications other than APs may be most useful in treating these early phase deficits and behavioral problems. By contrast, the late prodromal phase is characterized by the development of attenuated positive symptoms that are the harbingers of psychosis. Retrospective reports indicate that although the early prodromal period of largely negative-type symptoms might last from weeks to years,28,68 there is a typically steep decline in the 6-month to 1-year period prior Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical to onset.44 This suggests that APs might best be administered at the point of evident decline, as suggested by McGlashan and colleagues.44,69 Preliminary

treatment findings from the RAP program support this developmental treatment perspective. The naturalistic treatment strategy of the RAP clinic, the independent treatment arm of the RAP program, involves the following: (i) treating clinicians are independent Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical of the prodromal study research team; (ii) there are no research guidelines as to treatment; (iii) clinicians are asked to prescribe medication others as they would in their private practice, ie, based on best practice guidelines for treatment of symptoms; and (iv) prevention is not taken into consideration. This has generated a rich database of observed treatment data. The naturalistic treatment data collected over the early years of the RAP program has generated a consistent finding that has been repeated as the prodromal sample has continued to grow. As has been reported several times for patients with attenuated positive symptoms (eg, CHR+)4,5 on small, but increasing samples (with the most recent n=39), the major results are as follows: Most adolescents with prodromal symptoms are treated with either SGAPs, with ADs (involving a range of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors [SSRIs]), or with both.