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Antipsychotic Medications

 

            More than five decades ago psychotic researchers and doctors started working developing treatments that were effective and able to treat psychotic disorders. Sedatives were widely used for individuals who had psychiatric issues. Eventually it was discovered that these medication had antipsychotic properties and they began developing the first generation antipsychotics (FGAs). .
             First Generation Antipsychotic.
             FGAs are medication that specifically aim to block dopamine (D2).the researchers focused on medications that also love this dopamine creating the first generation antipsychotics this includes chlorpromazine, fluphenazine, aloperidol, perphenazine, thioridazine and trifluoperazine. The problem with first-generation antipsychotics was said they had a lot of side effects and these affect most of the population who takes them. Some of these effects include dry membranes such as mouth and eyes, weight gain, hypotension and sometimes uncontrollable movements such as tremors or ticks (BOOK).
             Second Generation Antipsychotics.
             Second-generation antipsychotics (SGA) were developed to eliminate the negative effects of the FGA while maintaining the effectiveness of the medication. These medications work on blocking serotonin (5ht2a and 5ht2c) and produce dopamine (D2). Some of the drugs in this category include clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine, risperdone, pariperidone, aripipazaole, Ziprasidone. .
             These medications have proven to be very effective and have fewer side effects than the FGA (BOOK). It has been discussed that SGA have different side effects in both sexes, however, it has been difficult to determine because studies comparing the differences of the effects between the sexes are rare (Aichhorn et al., 2006). The second-generation antipsychotics also have some negative side effects some of these include an extremely sedated feeling well sexual dysfunction second one being a real concern for some people.


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