Understanding the Economic Impact prior to Wells Fargo Foreclosures Essay

Understanding the Economic Impact prior to Wells Fargo Foreclosures - Essay Example As a result of the crisis, many institutions, including those that are not directly involved in lending collapsed while others merged to stabilize amidst the crisisIn 2007, United States was hit by financial crisis, which emanated from a crisis in the subprime real estate loans (commonly called subprime crisis). One of the financial institutions involved in mortgage lending that stood the crisis is Wells Fargo & company, although its rating dropped since 2007, in the light of the financial crisis. In response to the crisis, Wells Fargo & company and other companies increased foreclosure filings by 2008 to the highest record in historical. This paper provides an overview of the subprime lending industry and state the economy in Wisconsin just prior to subprime crisis and the Wells Fargo Foreclosures. Discussion Prior to 1980s, people in Wisconsin, US, had only two choices for obtaining a mortgage. According to Knapp (2010), one could obtain a home loan insured by either the Department of Veteran affairs or by the Federal Housing administration. Borrowers with good credits histories would typically obtain new loans from a bank, saving and loan or any other financial institution. Knapp (2010) elaborates that obtaining mortgage loans became much easier with the deregulation of the lending industries in the beginning of 1980. For instance, the monetary control act and the deregulation of the Depository institutions in 1980 removed the restrictions that imposed a ceiling on the interest rates charged on mortgage loans. One remarkable impact of the deregulation is that it led to the introduction of new mortgage loans, which included ‘adjustable rate mortgages that were particularly favorable to mortgage borrowers who had their credit profiles impaired. However, according to Knapp (2010), these events did not lead to an explosive growth in the mortgage industry until the securitization of mortgage loans in the late 1990s. The securitization option encouraged the majority of the existing mortgage lenders to adopt a new business model which Knapp (2010) refers to as â€Å"originate to distribute† business model. This new model required that the credit risk posed by the mortgages loans was not exclusively to be absorbed by the lending institutions. Rather, it was to be shared with other investors in the world who purchased the Mortgage-backed securities. Knapp (2010) further argues that by 2006, approximately one-fourth of all new mortgage loans in United States were made to subprime borrowers while the other ratio was securitized and sold to investors in the United States and around the world. The increased demand for high-yield mortgage-backed securities among investors, including institutions such as hedge funds institutions and large banks, led the lenders to ratchet up their marketing efforts. They then came up with new products, which were designed specifically for the sector of the mortgage market in order to persuade individuals who were deemed to be of high credit risks to obtain mortgage loans. Among the most popular of these products were the stated-income† and the â€Å"interest-only† mortgages. The stated-income loan required an applicant to simply report his or her annual income during the application process of the loan (Knapp, 2010). The lender depended on the applicant’s self reported income in the determination of the size of loan that one could afford. According to Knapp (2010), many applicants for the Stated-income loans grossly overstated their annual income so that they could purchase a larger home than was economically feasible given their actual incomes. An individual who obtained the Interest-only mortgage loan was required to pay interests on his

Research Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words - 5

Research - Essay Example The questionnaire was too long and the length might often influence participants to withdraw from the survey as time is important for everyone. Another flaw associated with the questionnaire was that in answering options, the ‘do not know’ option was not included. This is inappropriate as there might be participants who are unaware of a particular product or service. On the other hand, two good aspect of the questionnaire is that questions were worded very simply; this firstly made it very easy for participants to understand and secondly, the questionnaire encompassed all aspects of the research topic, thereby enabling the researcher to obtain an insight of people’s perceptions about products and services offered by the food chain. Generating idea: The initial step is very crucial as it involves generation of ideologies that are based on SWOT and current market trend analysis. The ideologies take into account various factors such as, return on investment, ROI and widespread distribution cost. (Takeuchi and Nonaka 137-146). During this particular phase, the manager has to ensure that overall new product development process is kept nimble and flexible discretion should be applied over which the activities are to be executed. Screening the idea: In this particular step, the idea is validated. The phase mainly involves elimination of ineffective concepts prior to allocation of resources to them. The individuals responsible for framing the idea should screen the same on the basis of factors such as, benefits associated with the idea that can be provided to the target market, market coverage of the product, expected intensity of competition, sales forecast, feasibility of the product and so on and so forth (Brands, â€Å"8 Step Process Perfects New Product Development†). Concept testing: Concept testing is very different from test marketing. This step involves patent research, designing due diligence

Stockholder management versus stakeholder management Essay

Stockholder management versus stakeholder management - Essay Example Here, stockholders shell out the capital that the managers could use in order to realize specific goals. Friedman supports his arguments by certain important points. First, is that this classical view of stockholder management is in consonance with the free-enterprise system where a corporate executive is an employee of the stockholders and has responsibility â€Å"to conduct the business in accordance with their desires, which generally will be to make as much money as possible while conforming to the basic rules of the society.† (Friedman, p. 52) He stressed that a businessman who supports â€Å"social responsibility† in business is a mere rhetoric since it equates to an unadulterated form of socialism and against the concept of free-enterprise. Another salient point that Friedman elaborated on is that the managers of a corporation are just agents of the owners. â€Å"They are empowered to manage the money advanced by the stockholders, but are bound by their agency r elationship to do so exclusively for the purposes delineated by their stockholder principals.† (p. 66) Friedman’s essay is a treatise that discussed why it would be wrong for a particular managerial team to undertake social responsibility activities for the company since it is against the interest of the stockholders. The author underscored the fact that the company pays its dues to the society by paying taxes and whatever societal ills and deficiencies there are; it is the responsibility of a government. In A Stakeholder Theory of the Modern Corporation, Edward Freeman (1999) criticizes Friedman and his school’s arguments that a corporation must only take into consideration the profit of the stockholders because they own the company. His most important point is that the stockholder is not the only party who has a stake in the company and, hence, placing these other parties’ interest subordinate to

Mandatory Military Service in the United States Research Paper

Mandatory Military Service in the United States - Research Paper Example Conclusion III. References Abstract A mediocre interpretation of the word â€Å"mandatory† will be obligatory or compulsory. The Mandatory Military Service of America carries out compulsory enrollment and induction into its services as part of its functions. With reference to the Legal Dictionary, enrollment is done through conscription also known as â€Å"draft†. However, draft and conscription are two different concepts. Conscription is the compulsory induction of individuals into the armed forces, as compared to draft which is the procedure by which people are conscripted. Men within a certain age group must register with the Selective Service for possible conscription, but this concept was suspended by 1973. According to this said source, conscription typically involves individuals who are deemed fit for military service. At times governments have instituted universal military service in which all men or people of a certain age are conscripted. Some American colonie s employed conscription. During the Revolutionary War, the American government used selective, temporary conscription to fill the ranks of its military. Congress passed the Selective Draft Act (40 Stat. 76). The act created a government office to oversee conscription. It also authorized local draft boards to select eligible individuals for conscription. The following year, the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of conscription, noting that Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the power to "raise and support Armies". Presidential authority to conscript individuals into the U.S. armed forces ended in 1973. No individual has been conscripted into the military since then. Inception of the draft The idea that members of a community have a duty to defend it is as old as civilization itself. In a free society like ours, forcing citizens to fight involves conflicting notions of civic duty, individual freedom and equality. Although America has relied on an all-volunteer milit ary for most of its history, it was forced to draft men to fight the civil war and the wars of the 20th century. (Cited from Paul Ruschmann, Mandatory Military Service) George Washington was the first of a number of presidents to propose compulsory military training for all men. â€Å"Every citizen who enjoys the protection of a free government, not only owes a proportion of his property but also some of his personal services for the defense of it, and consequently that the citizens of America†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦should be borne on militia rolls†. Despite his proposal, his advice was overlooked and the all-volunteer militia remained. However, at the time of the civil war, there was enough man power to go to battle. The Confederacy which had a much smaller population than the Union authorized a draft. The next year, lawmakers followed suit. Despite attractive bonus packages, the Military was not attracting enough persons to raise an army strong enough to win the war. With the draft l aws conceived by the Union and the Confederacy, they allowed a man to hire a substitute to fight for him. During that era, that was the most intelligent means of exempting men engaged in essential civilian occupations. The law also exempted a man from serving by paying a $300 commutation fee to the government. Many Northerners complained that the civil was a â€Å"rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight† and anti-draft violence broke out in a number of cities. The worst unrest occurred in New York City, where anti-draft protests

Super Size Me critique Essay Example for Free

Super Size Me critique Essay â€Å"Everything’s bigger in America the biggest people, America has become the fattest nation in the world nearly 100 million Americans are overweight or obese.† Melvin Spurlock announces in his opening scene of the documentary Super Size Me. (youtube.com) Morgan Spurlock’s documentary focuses on the premise that Americans are addicted to fast food, and this is proven by the excess amount of fast food restaurants present in the US, especially by McDonalds in New York City. His goal was to eat fast food three times a day at McDonald’s for thirty days. And during these thirty days his only rule is that he only drinks and eats food from McDonald’s restaurant. He had to eat everything on the menu at least once. During that time, McDonald’s promoted â€Å"Supersize† your meal for a couple cents. Spurlock would only â€Å"Supersize† his meal if the cashier asked him. Spurlock was curious about what where the effects to the body if one ate McDonalds for thirty days and the recommended three meals a day. His rule was to try everything at least once, ranging from Big Mac’s to yogurt parfaits, salads, and fish filets. Spurlock uses extreme measures in order to make his argument. Eating at a restaurant should not be unhealthy; however, it has become an epidemic in our culture to eat food that is processed, injected with hormones, and cheap which is the main ingredient used at fast food restaurants. Before he took the challenge he was in very good shape, according to three doctors he visited, including a registered dietician. According to the Body Mass Index (BMI), the standard system used by doctors in the US to determine a person’s health, Spurlock ranked as â€Å"normal† and not obese and unhealthy. â€Å"Normal† of course depends on your body and height it is not always what BMI specifies, but nevertheless, it is the common standard. Before the challenge, Spurlock ate the recommended 2500 calories and more than the average (80 grams a day). According to his doctor, his saturated fat is supposed to be less than 25 grams a day. In addition to seeing his doctors he also saw a specialist, an exercise physiologist to be exact and assessed his cardiovascular health only to give him the good news that his heart was in good shape. At only 11% body fat, he is in above average fitness for his age group, but nothing to be alarmed about. More than 60% of Americans do not exercise regularly, only walking 2000 steps a day or an equivalent to a mile a day. However, this is not the average for certain cities, in New York the average New Yorker walks approximately four to five miles a day. As a New Yorker, Morgan walks that average and during his walks he passes three McDonald’s restaurants on his way to work on a regular basis. He resides in Manhattan, New York, in which 83 McDonald’s restaurants also reside. According to Morgan, there are more McDonald’s in that island than anywhere else in the world. Manhattan is an island which is 13 miles long, two miles wide, and 22.4 square miles, there are nearly four McDonald’s restaurants per square mile. (vivavegie.org) That number is extremely high and ranks as the most saturated with fast food in the world. During the documentary, his girlfriend, who is a vegan chef and eats organic and fresh vegetables daily, calls his food genetically modified. She compares McDonald’s food to hockey pucks. His first day began with an Egg McMuffin value meal which includes an egg muffin with ham, hash brown, and a choice of coffee or milk. Morgan discovers that McDonald’s restaurant also delivers for free, only solidifying his argument about fast food, the power of advertising, and convenience in the United States. He walked 1272 steps to the first restaurant from his apartment. In order to walk his average 2000 steps a day challenge he is forced to take a cab in order to stay under the national average. As a side note, this is not the average for other countries both the amount one walks and the type of food that is served in McDonald’s. Morgan talked to tourists from other countries, such as a woman from France to use as his comparison in the documentary on how people view fast food and demonstrate how McDonald’s operates in these countries. While he interviewed the woman from France, she said our small size soft drink is an equivalent to a large soft drink in France, and she added, that she cannot finish the small size soda. â€Å"McDonald’s in the U.S. accounts for 43% of the entire fast food market. They’re everywhere, even in hospitals.† Morgan interviewed a lawyer, Samuel Hersh, who represented two women who were suing McDonald’s, and says in terms of being the big guns McDonald’s is the worst corporation to sue. How can one go after the happy meals, the Playplace areas for parties and children, and the â€Å"family atmosphere.† Their main advertising targets children. They make them avid consumers of fast food. At the end of the thirty days, Spurlock gained 18 pounds, and during that time he suffered from depression. During his three visits to his doctor, he complained about constant headaches, and even mood swings, something he never experienced before in a frequent manner. In addition to these pains, he experienced acute chest palpitations. After the thirty days, Spurlock visited his doctor for the final diagnosis only to find out that he tested for liver failure. The doctor recommended him to stop his project or else he would die. He made the comparison to an alcoholic binge drinking for thirty days. Food should not be equivalent to a person suffering from alcoholism. Food should be considered to be wholesome and healthy, today it is filled with chemicals that hurt our bodies. Other companies that are known for these tactics are tobacco companies they use â€Å"brand implanting† from a young age to make believe that they are â€Å"healthy.† One of the most well-known â€Å"brand-implanting† tactics was to sell gum cigarettes to children from the ice cream man. The theory behind this â€Å"brand-implanting,† is not to realize you are bombarded with advertising that says and implants statements like â€Å"it is cool to smoke,† â€Å"it is sexy to smoke,† and â€Å"you are a man if you smoke†. The theory specifies that when you are a child you will not realize the tobacco companies are targeting you in a capitalist society. The child only sees the gum cigarette that when you inhale it simulates real cigarettes, it is cool and â€Å"adult like†. Of course the parents are burdened with having to pay the price both from a young and mature age. The parents only think it is a â€Å"toy†, but in reality they are being programmed to smoke when they are the legal age. The feelings the young adult will feel when smoking real cigarettes is that experience the warm feeling of getting the toy and being with mom and dad. McDonald’s aggressively advertises this way, and gets kids to buy their food as adults by â€Å"brand implanting† them with a clown (Ronald McDonald), giving them toys in Happy Meals, etc. The most disappointing statistic is that one out of three children born in 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime, and about one out of twenty people today have diabetes, according to Spurlock. (cdc.gov) This documentary demonstrated, in an extreme manner that eating fast food is unhealthy but it also looked at the effects of aggressive advertising. Supersize came out in 2004, and it still resonates in 2013. To the point that the First Lady of the United States of America, Michelle Obama, has taken an approach to decrease diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity among young children in her â€Å"Get Up and Move† campaign. Unhealthy eating is a serious problem and Americans are leading in the polls. We have to recognize that fast food does not equate to healthy eating. We are so caught up in our way of life that we do not make time to eat healthy and exercise, and McDonald’s figured this out with their million dollar advertising accounts. Spurlock’s points were extreme, yet poignant about where we stand in our fight with food, and overall advertising. Works Cited Diabetes. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 01 Aug. 2011. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. . Spurlock, Morgan. Super Size Me. YouTube. YouTube, 29 July 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. . Fast Food Facts from the Super Size Me Web Site. Fast Food Facts from the Super Size Me Web Site. N.p., n.d. Web. 08 Oct. 2013. .

My Feeling as a Filipino Essay Example for Free

My Feeling as a Filipino Essay I am very proud to be a Filipino! From the centuries that passed, a lot of nations have admired the Filipino people, for being industrious, brave, talented, resourceful, these are only a few of the traits that a lot of other people and nations admired the Filipinos for. But although we have been complimented in many fields, none of us or only a handful of us are well known for it. We as a people never stop and think â€Å"what can I do for this country†. There have been notable personalities that have done this but a lot of us have always taken it for granted. One other notable Filipino trait is ingenuity; we have had a lot of inventors that have blossomed in the Philippines, one such inventor that is well known around the world is Agapito Flores, the inventor of the fluorescent light. This invention, should it have been recognized by the government would have been one of the best ways that we could have paid our national debt and would have increased the status of the Philippines as a nation, if it was manufactured here in the Philippines, but the government took it for granted. Another field that we really should have exceeded in is agriculture. A lot of the Asian countries have learned their agricultural knowledge from the Philippines, yet we keep importing these goods from them, one such country is Thailand; they are very proud to say that they learned their agricultural knowledge from the Philippines, one notable goods is the Thai Rice, that specific breed of rice was made in the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in Los Banos, Laguna, yet we are the one importing that specific rice crop from that country to ours. So my question is †¦ Why is it that our government seems to be a reactive kind of government and not a proactive one? Why is it that the Filipino, as a people, seems to practice, what I call the â€Å"I† syndrome? Why is it that we put ourselves on top of everything else rather than a part of a nation? Why is it that other nations and or people recognize what we have and we don’t? Why is it that we turn a blind eye to the problems of our society? Why is it that we are so caught up with what â€Å"I† want and what â€Å"I† need that we fail to see what’s really happening to us as a nation? I AM PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO and I still believe that we can make it as a nation, but I’m afraid that if we don’t change our outlook of ourselves as a people, we will succeed as an individual but fail miserably as a nation.

Background And Pathophysiology Of Schizophrenia Psychology Essay

Background And Pathophysiology Of Schizophrenia Psychology Essay Schizophrenia is a severe chronic psychotic disorder associated with the brain and is characterised by symptoms classified into three major categories; positive, negative and cognitive symptoms. Positive symptoms include hallucinations, delusions and thought disorder. Negative symptoms consist of social withdrawal and flattening of emotional responses. In addition to this, deficits in cognitive function such as attention and memory are also often present in schizophrenic patients together with anxiety and depression. (Rang, 2007); (Lewis J A Lieberman 2000) Studies have shown several neurotransmitter systems such as serotonin, glutamate and dopamine to be involved in processes leading to the expression of the symptoms experienced in schizophrenia. Among these, the dopamine theory has received the most attention and it will be the focal point of this research. Serotonin, an essential neurotransmitter, has its place in explaining schizophrenia by trying to explain the elements of the disorder which were initially unexplained. This consisted of the negative symptoms and the actions of antipsychotics. Its role was recognised in the 1950s when it was discovered how similar serotonin was to LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). LSD causes psychotic symptoms as it competes with serotonin and occupies its receptor sites. Atypical antipsychotics as well as blocking dopamine receptors, also act as 5-HT receptor antagonists. This hypothesis was confirmed when typical antipsychotics were combined with a 5-HT2 antagonist such as ritanserin. This resulted in relief of negative symptoms and extrapyramidal side effects. (Sadock, 2000) Glutamate has also been implicated in schizophrenia. This hypothesis is derived from evidence using PCP, a glutamate NMDA receptor antagonist. Administration produces psychotic symptoms and cognitive dysfunction in healthy subjects (Krystal et al. 1994) and negative cognitive symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. (Lahti et al. 1995) Phencyclidine, ketamine and dizocilpine, also glutamate NMDA receptor antagonists, provide psychotic symptoms in humans. Studies have also shown that there is reduction in glutamate receptor density and glutamate concentration in post-mortem brains of schizophrenic patients. (Rang 2007) The most common theory relating to schizophrenia is the dopamine one. The first formulation of the dopamine hypothesis suggests that excess mesolimbic dopamine is the reason for the positive symptoms. The evidence that this idea was based on included amphetamine abuse which increased synaptic dopamine leading to delusions (Laruelle et al. 1996) and that all antipsychotic drugs block dopamine D2 receptors. As this theory implied excess dopamine is responsible for positive symptoms, what is responsible for the negative and cognitive symptoms? Well, research has shown that negative and cognitive symptoms are the result of deficient dopamine in the pre fontal cortex due to D1 receptor dysfunction (K. L. Davis et al. 1991) There have been operational definitions of schizophrenia developed in an attempt the reliability of the diagnosis; The International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10) and The American Psychiatric Associations Diagnostic and Statistical method (DSM-IV-TR) and both contain lists of criteria but also insist that symptoms must have persisted for 6 months. PICTURE Schizophrenia usually presents itself in late adolescence or in early adult life (Kirkbride et al. 2006) with males having an earlier onset than females. In the UK, the mean age of first admission is about 22 years for men and 27 years for women. (Castle R M Murray 1991)Females also tend to have fewer negative symptoms and a better outcome than males. According to leading experts in this disorder, they have found that it is caused my many factors. One major factor is genetics, and schizophrenia occurs in 10% of people who have parents, brother or sister (first degree relatives) with the disorder. People who have grandparents, cousins or aunts and uncles (second degree relatives) also develop this disorder a lot more than the general public. (Kendler et al. 1993) Most importantly, the risk is at its greatest for a person who has a twin with schizophrenia. (Irving Gottesman 1991) PICTURE Several genes are related with the risk of schizophrenia but previously it was believed there is no particular gene that is responsible for the disease itself. Studies have shown that people with schizophrenia also have many rare gene mutations which involve many genes and disrupt the development of the brain. However in recent times, new research has shown there may be several susceptible genes. One such gene is DISC1 which could be linked to the development and treatment of schizophrenia. DISC1 plays a key role in the growth of individual neurons. Mutated Disrupted in Schizophrenia (DISC1) gene is seen to disrupt the growth and development of cells in the brain. When DISC1 levels were reduced in mice, cells in the brain failed to divide and the mice developed symptoms that mimicked schizophrenia in humans. (REFERENCE IMPORTANT ONE) Other than genes, environmental factors are probably important in the development of schizophrenia. These include exposure to infections, immunocompromised, stress and being in contact with toxic chemicals during childhood may slightly alter brain development. (Marcel ET AL REFERENCE 1999) Chlorpromazine was the first drug discovered to have antipsychotic properties, followed by haloperidol which was widely prescribed. This is an example of typical first generation medications and produced D2 receptor blockade. By 1980, second generation atypical drugs were out, most notably clozapine which was seen to be more potent in treating chronic patients. These had the benefits of also reducing negative symptoms and extreme side effects. Pharmaceutical companies in the 1990s started to take advantage of clozapine and develop drugs without its side effects and olanzapine is another popular atypical drug. In 2005, there was a study done known as the CATIE study, in the USA, comparing the effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in clinical settings. It was seen that there were high rates of discontinuation; 64-82% over 18 months, due to patients not being able to tolerate side effects. Lack of efficacy was also found for all antipsychotic drugs in the study, although olanzapine was most effective (terms of discontinuation rates) than other drugs in the study. Despite this, olanzapine was associated with greater weight gain and increase glycosylated haemoglobin, cholesterol and triglycerides. These changes could have serious implications such as development of metabolic syndrome. (Jeffrey A. Lieberman et al. 2005) So why use or develop Chinese herb extracts as a therapeutic tool for schizophrenia? Although antipsychotic medication is still the foundation for the treatment in schizophrenia, it still leaves some people with unbearable side effects and distressing symptoms. The most common side effects are Parkinsonism, dystonia and akathisia and are most common with haloperidol and fluphenazine. (Schillevoort et al. 2001) (Levinson et al. 1990) Dystonic spasms affect the neck muscles tongue and face, and occur within a few days of treatment and are frequent at high doses. Akathisia is the restless leg syndrome and is characterised by great urges to move and difficulty in sitting still. Anti-cholinergic drugs can relieve these symptoms; they should not be given routinely as they also cause side effects such as blurred vision, constipation, dry mouth and euphoria. It is also important to remember that not all patients will get side effects from taking antipsychotics. Another long term side effect is tardive dyskinesia which is slow irregular movements particularly in the regions of the mouth, lips and protrusion of the tongue. Approximately 5% of the patients on antipsychotic medication developing this each year, but there is evidence that the incidence may be declining with increasing use of atypical antipsychotics. (Tarsy Baldessarini 2006) Due to the side effects, herbal medicines are commonly used for psychiatric purposes in both the developed and developing countries. (Walter Rey 1999) Studies have shown that some Chinese herbal medicines are effective for psychosis and that if used in conjunction with western medication, they enhance antipsychotic efficacy and reduce adverse effects. Another important aspect is that, Chinese herbs may be more accessible, acceptable and cheaper than drugs already available. Chinese herbal medication includes plants, fungi, resins, animal and mineral substances which are given within a formula which typically consist of 4 to 12 herbs. Administration is in the form of decoctions, pills, powders, tablets, phials and as standardized plant extracts. Chinese herbal medication has been known to treat schizophrenia for over 2000 years; although the methods used in Traditional Chinese medicine to diagnose and treat schizophrenia differs from that used in western medicine. In western medicine, it is usually diagnosed by criteria such as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM) or the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) but in Traditional Chinese Medication, its diagnosed by the Chinese Classification of Mental Disorder (CCMD). Figure shows the difference between diagnosing and treating Schizophrenia using traditional and Chinese herbal medication Traditional Chinese medicine differentiates schizophrenia into syndromes which determine the course of treatment. Therefore if two people are to be diagnosed with schizophrenia could have different clinical features (syndromes) therefore will require different medications. Each syndrome has a specific herbal formulation, but patients typically have mixed clinical features therefore they require precise formulations made by adding or substituting herbs. (Rathbone et al. 2007) Hype or hope? Is there really a benefit of using Chinese herbs as a therapeutic tool of schizophrenia? There have been several clinical trials done using Chinese herbal medication in the treatment of schizophrenia. One of the earlier studies was done using Dang gui cheng qi tang as the herbal medication given to the treatment group without the addition of the antipsychotic chlorpromazine which the control group received. The setting was in a hospital and participants were divided into groups randomly. It was reported that no participants left the groups early and the result showed that the global state outcome not improved /worse favoured the control group receiving chlorpromazine. (Rathbone et al. 2007) These results should be treated with caution given design limitations such as it being only conducted for 20 days, but nevertheless do not support that herbal medication should be used by itself for the treatment of schizophrenia. Further research and trials have been done which has incorporated using herbal medication together with an antipsychotic versus an antipsychotic alone. In 1997, Chinese herbal medications Dang gui cheng qi tang or xiao plus an antipsychotic was given to a treatment group compared to just the antipsychotic given to the control group. The allocation was randomized, lasted for 12 weeks and included hospital as well as community setting. The result showed that the treatment group scored significantly lower for the outcome of global state not improved/worse than the control group. (Rathbone et al. 2007) Global data score from the Clinical Global Impression scale (a rating scale measuring severity of symptoms, treatment response and efficacy of treatment) also favoured treatment groups that took the herbal medication plus antipsychotic. Ginkgo biloba was used with an antipsychotic for the treatment group in 1996 (Rathbone et al. 2007) and Shui zhi and Da huang were used with chlorpromazine. There were side effects associated with taking antipsychotics and taking herbal medications with antipsychotics showed that extra pyramidal side effects still arose. Constipation was however lower in the treatment group. (Rathbone et al. 2007) In 2001, Zhang et al did a study giving a treatment group Ginkgo biloba with haloperidol with the control group only receiving the latter. When compared, the study showed there was no difference between treatment group and control group when comparing negative symptoms and also when looking at Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores. However, the scale of positive symptoms did marginally favour the treatment group. (Rathbone et al. 2007) For all studies done in the past, we have to be aware that application of Chinese herbal medication is based on syndrome differentiation with failure of applying this differentiation resulting in ineffective or harmful treatment. There is no concrete evidence that when given alone, Chinese herbal medications offer benefits which are equal or even greater than antipsychotic drugs. When the herbal drugs are used with antipsychotics, they may offer improvement in symptoms but as there is still limited evidence in regards to Chinese herbs and traditional Chinese medication, this approach must still be considered new and more investigation is needed. Stepholidine is an active ingredient of the Chinese herb Stephania intermedia Lo, and belongs to an alkaloid group tetra-hydroberberine. (S. X. Xu et al. 1989) Initial research had shown that Stepholidine decreased blood pressure without exerting any adverse effects on the heart as well as exhibiting analgesia and any sedating effects on the central nervous system. Recent studies have shown stepholidine to be a pioneering drug in the treatment of schizophrenia because it is a dopamine D1 receptor agonist and a D2 receptor antagonist. Due to the pathogenesis of this disease suggests the dysfunction of D1 receptors in the medial prefrontal cortex, which is accompanied by hyperactivity of D2 receptors in subcortical regions such as ventral tegmental area (VTA) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc), when developing a antipsychotic drug should possess dual agonistic and antagonistic actions on the receptor. Stepholidine and its analogues tick these two important boxes. Stepholidine acts through D1 receptors to increase adenylyl cyclase activity and subsequent signalling pathways regulated by adenylyl cyclase might be responsible for the physiological responses, including rotational behaviour and changes in the firing activity of the neurons induced by Stepholidine. By contrast, Stepholidine inhibits both D2 auto-receptor mediated feedback inhibition of dopamine containing neurons and D2 receptor mediated effects on target non dopamine containing neurons. (Guo-Zhang Jin et al. 2002) There are several symptoms related to schizophrenia and insomnia is one of the most common. This could be partly related to the over-activity of the dopaminergic system. There has been a study done to show whether stepholidine modulates sleep behaviours. This was done in mice and the sleep-wake profiles were observed. From this study it has been concluded that stepholidine significantly increased the amount of NREM sleep and prolonged the duration of NREM sleep episodes, with reduction in the amount of wakefulness. Stepholidine had no effect on either the amount of REM sleep. Because it maintains NREM sleep in mice, it is suggested that it has the potential to be also used in the treatment of insomnia. (Qiu et al. 2009) Figure 1 shows the dual action of Stepholidine. Dopamine (DA)-containing neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) project to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). The schizophrenia hypothesis suggests that D1 receptor dysfunction in the mPFC leads to the negative symptoms of schizophrenia and the D2 receptor hyperactivity in the sub-cortex nuclei leads to the positive symptoms of this disorder [1-4]. The D1 receptor agonist effect of SPD in the mPFC is suggested to ameliorate the negative symptoms of schizophrenia, whereas the D2 receptor antagonist effect of SPD that predominates in the sub-cortex would improve the positive symptoms The Stanley Medical Research Institute (SMRI) awarded a grant of Canadian $330,000 to Dr. Shitji Kapur and Dr. David Mamo in 2006 to study L-Stepholidine. The work they would do would be built up from previous knowledge of the drug already known. They conducted preclinical studies in rats and it showed to be a very promising compound. The goal then was to give it to humans and measure its D2 binding in an attempt at showing it indeed is a D2 drug in vivo using PET, and also estimate its expected therapeutic dose for future clinical studies. Having had several correspondences Dr Mamo, he has informed me that the main company in China had stopped the production of Stepholidine and for ensuring that the compound is pure without any contaminants and to assure the local regulatory authority the research was a safe study, they decided not to use stepholidine from China. Dr Kapur and Dr Mamo then collaborated with a chemist to synthesize stepholidine in a lab. Synthesis was fine, but the pr oblem was that they couldnt scale up the production to gram scale. A chemist had told him with further work, production was possible, but the SMRI was not willing to wait for this. The funding had to be given up but not for the reason that the drug wasnt showing promise. Another drawback in stepholidine is its bioavailability. Drugs given orally, acting on the central nervous system, should have good bioavailability and good blood brain barrier penetration. In rat based assays, it was seen that stepholidine, when administered orally, was poorly available to systemic circulation but could cross the blood brain barrier easily, resulting in good entry into the brain. Stepholidine was also found to have good permeability of the membrane that was not affected by efflux transporters such as P-gp or MRP2. Stepholidine which was absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract was also rapidly eliminated by glucuronidation of phenolic hydroxyl group, and less by sulphation, methylation, demethylation and /or N-oxidation. This poor bioavailability achieved by stepholidine could be due to the extensive pre systemic metabolism. A way to overcome this would be to develop pro-drugs, which would be chemically modified versions of stepholidine which will undergo enzymatic or chemical transformation for the active drug to be released. Example of this might be to modify the hydroxyl groups of stepholidine. (Sun et al. 2009) Due to its poor bioavailability, there has been significant development in recently towards the modification of stepholidine by development of series of derivatives. One derivative that has improved bioavailability while maintain the pharmacological properties of stepholidine, is bi-acetylated l-stepholidine. In recent times, although there has been an increase in material prosperity and growing success of traditional western medication, there has been an overall increase in psychotic disorders especially schizophrenia. Psychiatric patients not only want their symptoms to disappear, they also want to continue to lead a normal life without all their troubles. Psychiatric patients have better resources for the treatment now than ever before, but due to frequent disappointments in western medication especially due to its side effects; there has been increased growth of alternative and complementary methods in the treatment of patients. Sometimes patients also seek help from spell breakers, exorcists and herbalists. In recent times, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) approximately 80% of people in the world have relied on herbs in satisfying their medical care needs, and developed countries such as Germany, Italy and even the USA have shown a dramatic increase in herbal medicine consumption. Stepholidine had led the way in recent drug discovery with it being both a D1 receptor agonist and D2 receptor antagonist activity. This is a unique pharmacological characteristic of DH-THPBs (dihydro) and will be vital in the future when developing new antipsychotic drugs. More so, another DH-THPB, 12-chloroscoulerine has been found to have more potent dual action than stepholidine. In this project, I will analyse research done with stepholidine in regards to it being a therapeutic tool in the treatment of schizophrenia. Word count 2,992