Late onset schizophrenia: a review

A consensus was reached by International Late Onset SchizophreniaGroup that cases in which onset occurs between 40 and 60 be calledlate onset schizophrenia and that cases in which onset occurs afterage 60 should be called very late onset schizophrenia like psychosis.Inconsistencies in diagnostic systems and nomenclature, coupledwith a tendency among most schizophrenia researchers to ascribelate onset psychoses to organic factors, have led to such casesoccupying an ambiquous position in relation to schizophrenia. Interms of epidemiology, symptom profile and identifiedpathophysiologies, the diagnoses of late onset schizophrenia haveface validity and clinical utility. General adoption of these categorieswill foster systematic investigation of such patients. Bothdevelopmental and degenerative processes that affect specific braincircuitry have been implicated and intensive study of late onsetpatients may ultimately shed light on etiology. The purpose of thisnomenclature is to clarify the position of these patients and tostimulate more research