We are very excited,” said Dr. John Kane, chairman of psychiatry at Zucker Hillside Hospital in Glen Oaks. Kane, along with Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman of Columbia University, will lead the research team. “It is a tremendous opportunity to improve the lives of schizophrenic patients and we are delighted that the Institute of Mental Health is supporting this work,” he said.
   “This project will give us strategies that may change the course of illness for patients early in the disease process,” Lieberman said in a statement. “We have some promising approaches that need to be combined and then tested on individuals in many different kinds of settings.”
   The study, called RAISE, will take the information that physicians have collected about schizophrenia, particularly from first episode patients, and use it to put together an enhanced intervention package of medication and psychosocial treatment.
   The researchers will then train doctors around the country so they can test the treatment on their patients. After two years of follow-up visits, the results will be compared with those of patients receiving traditional psychiatric treatment.
   “Both patients and families are concerned about the progress being made and whether schizophrenics can do more to recover and function independently,” Kane said. “The treatment they get is often fragmented. It takes a long time before the individual receives appropriate treatment.”
   Indeed, patients can receive a number of different treatments depending on their doctor or the location in which they live. This study is significant because it is the first attempt to determine if early, consistent, systematic treatment can alter the course of the illness.
   Schizophrenia is a brain disease with a strong genetic component that usually develops during adolescence or early adulthood. Symptoms can occur gradually over weeks, months or even years.
   “They [the families] are confused. They don't know what to think,” Kane said. “They assume that its drugs or that the person is hanging out with the wrong crowd. They look for a less frightening answer than schizophrenia.”
   According to Kane, it may take more than a year after the symptoms have manifested themselves before a patient will seek treatment.
   Sometimes individuals cannot recognize that anything is wrong and they have to be admitted to the hospital against their will — this is especially true in cases where the patient is a danger to themselves or others.
   “Imagine what it is like to watch your son or daughter go through this process — especially if they won’t accept treatment,” Kane said. “They can become hostile and even paranoid about their parents’ true intentions, but at the same time they need family support, so we try to normalize that relationship in treatment.”
   If you think a loved one may be schizophrenic, Kane suggests contacting your doctor, local psychiatric clinic or hospital. If the individual is unwilling to accept help, he advises you go on their behalf to find out the best course of action.