Schizophrenia-Diagnosis and many questions

What are the assessments made to diagnose schizophrenia? Are any neuro-imaging procedures mandatory? Can there be any mistake in diagnosing it and what are some of the most common illnesses
mental and physical) mistaken for schizophrenia? Can medications given for a wrongly diagnosed patient be the culprit of the patient's sickness?

[HFHS M.D.-SW]

Dear Mary,

You have brought up many interesting questions which take lengthy answers.  I will briefly answer some of your questions and recommend you use our search link by placing "schizophrenia" in the box, for more detailed information.

Schizophrenia is a devastating but manageable mentall illness. Schizophrenia consists of characteristic symptoms such as
delusions, hallucinations and social dysfunction.
Clearly schizophrenia is a heterogeneous group of disorders with multiple causes.
Computerized Axial Tomography-a kind of x-ray technique for visualizing the structures of living brains may be used in some studies. Schizophrenic patients are more likely to have abnormal brain structures (for example, enlargement of the cavities in the interior of the brain) than are normal persons of the same age. It should be emphasized that some of the abnormalities reported are quite subtle. These abnormalities have been found
neither to be characteristic of all schizophrenic patients nor to occur only in individuals with schizophrenia.

A more recent development is the PET (Positron Emission Tomography) scan. In contrast to the CAT scan,
which produces images of brain structures, the PET scan-is a way of measuring the metabolic activity of
specific areas of the brain, including areas deep within the brain. Only very preliminary research has been done
with the PET scan in schizophrenia, but this new technique, used in conjunction with other types of scans,
promises to provide important information about the structure and function of the living brain.

Symptoms similar to schizophrenia may be caused by many factors such as, illicit drugs, hormonal disorders and other mental disorders.

The effects of medications for the treatment of schizophrenia, vary with different people, some may only complain of sedation while others may have neurological manifestations.

My Best Wishes

HFHS M.D.-SW  

[Andy Roberts]

What are the best medications you can get and what are the side effects. eg. Risperadol.