Many pediatric and adolescent patients who received second-generation antipsychotic medications experienced significant weight gain, along with varied adverse effects on cholesterol and triglyceride levels and other metabolic measures, according to a study in the October 28 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Continuing their groundbreaking research into the treatment of mood disorders in older adults, psychiatrists in New York are now studying the effects of quetiapine (Seroquel) and lamotrigine (Lamictal) on that patient population.
Antipsychotic drugs, such as olanzapine (Zyprexa), risperidone (Risperdal) and quetiapine (Seroquel), are commonly used to treat psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and even behavioral problems related to dementia.
Studies show that patients with schizophrenia who are treated with Seroquel (quetiapine) experience an overall improvement across a broad range of symptoms associated with schizophrenia, including both positive and negative symptoms and cognitive functioning. These data add to the extensive set of clinical evidence demonstrating Seroquel’s efficacy and tolerability in treating schizophrenia.
Patients ages 30 to 74 who took atypical antipsychotics such as risperidone (Risperdal), quetiapine (Seroquel), olanzapine (Zyprexa) and clozapine (Clozaril) had a significantly higher risk of sudden death from cardiac arrhythmias and other cardiac causes than patients who did not take these medications. The risk of death increased with higher doses of the drugs taken.
Many prescription drugs are valuable in treating diseases for which they were not approved, but doctors, insurers and drugmakers have little to guide them in how to evaluate the safety, efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these drugs in their off-label uses.
