The Treatment of Tardive Dyskinesia and Tardive Dystonia

The enthusiasm produced by the introduction of antipsychotic medication in the 1950s gave way to a certain frustration in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the development of a large number of new drugs, little progress was made in treatment because these new agents were, in essence, therapeutically equivalent. This lack of progress was perhaps also related to an emphasis on tardive dyskinesia in the 1970s, i.e., the preoccupation with a negative effect of treatment. The reverse is taking place today. Clozapine and the other atypical antipsychotics are associated in people's minds with fewer or absent extrapyramidal symptoms and less tardive dyskinesia than the older typical agents. As a result, a certain amount of complacency exists. Tardive dyskinesia not only may be painful and disfiguring, but it also predicts poor outcome in patients with schizophrenia. Although many treatments have been tried, none have proven completely efficacious. The best treatment for tardive dyskinesia and dystonia is prevention, which is a function of medication choice. Pharmacologic interventions for tardive dyskinesia include clozapine and the other atypical antipsychotics. If typical antipsychotics must be used, they should be started at the lowest possible levels. Studies of risperidone suggest that it, too, should be used at very low doses to minimize the risk of tardive dyskinesia. It is also possible that schizophrenic patients taking atypical antipsychotics may experience fewer spontaneous dyskinesias, although further study is warranted.