Doctors routinely assess a patient’s risk of heart attack, various cancers, and diabetes, often intervening to slow or stop disease before it strikes. But preventing psychiatric conditions, from anxiety to depression to schizophrenia, has received scant attention. But in recent years, brain specialists have refined their ability to anticipate who’s at highest risk of psychosis—a defining feature of schizophrenia—identifying subtle signs in children and more vivid precursors in late adolescence. And increasingly, researchers feel they’d be derelict not to pursue prevention. A handful of prevention studies are up and running, ranging from cognitive therapies to pregnancy supplements for the fetal brain to psychiatric drugs. Last month, a German pharmaceutical company enrolled the first volunteer into what is intended to be a 300-person, randomized clinical trial, testing an experimental drug to prevent psychosis in those at extremely high risk. It’s believed to be the first time a company has poured millions of dollars into an effort like this one.

中文翻译：

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改变主意

医生通常会评估患者心脏病发作、各种癌症和糖尿病的风险，通常会在疾病发作之前进行干预以减缓或阻止疾病。但预防精神疾病，从焦虑到抑郁再到精神分裂症，却很少受到关注。但近年来，大脑专家提高了他们预测谁患精神病风险最高的能力——这是精神分裂症的一个定义特征——识别儿童的微妙迹象和青春期后期更生动的前兆。越来越多的研究人员认为，如果不进行预防，他们就会被忽视。一些预防研究正在进行中，从认知疗法到胎儿大脑的妊娠补充剂再到精神科药物。上个月，一家德国制药公司招募了第一名志愿者，预计将有 300 人，随机临床试验，测试一种实验性药物，以预防高危人群的精神病。这被认为是公司第一次为这样的努力投入数百万美元。