Health
Patients taking antipsychotics should be screened, monitored
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Feb. 16, 2004
When prescribing antipsychotic drugs, physicians should screen their patients for cardiovascular risk factors by taking their family history and measuring their lipids, blood pressure and body mass index, according to a consensus statement published in Diabetes Care this month by several medical societies, including the American Psychiatric Assn. and the American Assn. of Clinical Endocrinologists.
Any apparent issues such as obesity should be addressed when initiating treatment, and while on the drugs, the patient should also be monitored for weight gain and any increase in other risk factors for heart disease.
The statement also said that the benefits of these drugs outweighed the risks but efforts should be made to minimize these side effects through dietary counseling or by choosing an antipsychotic with a different side-effect profile.
Eli Lilly and Co., one of the five drug companies that underwrote part of the day-long conference that developed the paper, issued a statement disagreeing with the conclusion that these drugs differed in their side effects and expressed concern that it could lead to patients stopping their medications suddenly -- an occurrence that could be dangerous.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/02/16/hlbf0216.htm.
