An anti-hypertension drug administered intravenously for a
single four-hour treatment resulted in dramatic improvements of symptoms for
people living with schizophrenia, according to newly published findings from
clinician scientists at the University of Alberta’s medical school and their
colleagues in Brazil.
The results from the small clinical trial were published May
8 in the peer-reviewed journal, JAMA Psychiatry. The study involved 20 people
with schizophrenia taking currently available antipsychotic drugs. Ten received
placebo treatments; the other 10 received low doses of the anti-hypertension
drug sodium nitroprusside. Those taking the drug, which has been around since
the 1800s, experienced dramatic improvements in symptoms, such as fewer
hallucinations (episodes of hearing voices), and less anxiety, depression and
withdrawal. These improvements lasted for a month.