To print: Select File and then Print from your browser's menu --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Title: Schizophrenics Taking Antipsychotic Seroquel (Quetipine) May Experience Fewer Side Effects URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/dg/1E0EEE.htm Doctor's Guide September 13, 2000
TORONTO, ON -- September 13, 2000 -- The benefits of antipsychotic treatment need not be overshadowed by a triad of devastating drug side effects. Involuntary movement disorders (commonly referred to as extrapyramidal symptoms or EPS), weight gain and sexual problems, which are side effects commonly associated with antipsychotic treatment, are widely recognized as a key reason why schizophrenia patients stop taking their medication, risking a relapse of their illness. However, new data from a number of studies suggest that use of the atypical antipsychotic Seroquel® (quetiapine) helps minimize or avoid these side effects altogether in a large number of patients. A study presented at the recent CINP (Collegium Internationale Neuropsychopharmacologicum) congress in Brussels, Belgium, found that weight gain associated with Seroquel is lower than that reported for several other widely used antipsychotic agents, some of which are associated with mean weight gains of over eight and a half pounds (4 kg) after just 10 weeks of treatment.1 The study explored the long term effects of Seroquel treatment on weight in 427 patients with schizophrenia over a period of 52 weeks. It found minimal weight changes with patients treated with Seroquel, ranging from an average gain of four pounds (1.78 kg) in patients who had their weight measured at 27 to 39 weeks, to an average loss of three pounds (1.47 kg) in patients weighed between 40 and 52 weeks. "These results are important as excessive weight gain associated with other frequently used antipsychotic treatments is emerging as a real problem side effect for some patients," said Dr. Wilson Lit, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at McMaster University and the director of the community division at the Homewood Health Centre in Guelph, Ontario. "It is important to anticipate and minimize this side effect by helping patients focus on diet and exercise. Some patients will insist on medications that do not cause them to gain weight," added Dr. Lit. Interim data from a pan-European patient survey of the impact of antipsychotic treatment by the support group network EUFAMI (European Federation of Associations of Families of Mentally Ill People), which is due to be completed this Autumn, confirm that weight gain side effects are a growing problem for patients. Of the 74 percent of surveyed patients who experienced treatment side effects, weight gain was mentioned by 60 percent and was rated among the most difficult problems to cope with by 56 percent of these respondents. Sexual and hormonal problems (sexual dysfunction, breast enlargement, menstrual problems and 'milk' production in both males and females) experienced by schizophrenia sufferers are linked to a rise in levels of the hormone prolactin, induced by many antipsychotic medications. But a new Japanese study, conducted by Dr. Murasaki and colleagues, which compared Seroquel with the conventional antipsychotic haloperidol in 197 patients with schizophrenia, found that Seroquel has no effect on prolactin levels.2 A recent analysis by Professor Rajiv Tandon of the University of Michigan Medical Centre, in Ann Arbor, provides further confirmation that Seroquel treatment is associated with no more extrapyramidal (EPS) side effects than placebo - even at the highest prescribed doses.3 "When used at the doses needed to relieve symptoms of the illness, older conventional antipsychotic medications are almost invariably associated with devastating and socially isolating movement side effects," Professor Tandon said. These include tremors, muscle spasms of the face, neck or trunk and facial contortions which patients simply cannot control. "The newer atypical antipsychotics as a class have an advantage over older medications in that they can be clinically effective at doses which do not cause these EPS side effects," said Dr. Lit. "But if you need to increase the dose to get adequate relief from symptoms, EPS side effects can start to creep in. Seroquel is different. We have found that Seroquel causes no more EPS than placebo, even when the dose is increased to the highest level prescribed in practice," added Dr. Lit. "Balancing the benefits of antipsychotic treatment against the risk of side effects for sufferers is one of the biggest challenges faced by physicians treating schizophrenia," noted Dr. Lit. "Taken together, the results of these studies confirm that Seroquel is a well-tolerated medication that offers us the hope of effectively relieving the symptoms of schizophrenia while minimizing the risk of some of the devastating side effects. That's very good news." Seroquel (quetiapine) is manufactured by AstraZeneca and is currently approved in over sixty markets, including Canada. REFERENCES 1. Westhead EK, Jones AM, Gorman AP. CINP 2000 (abs) 2. Murasaki M, Koyama T, Yagi G, Ushijima S, Kamijima K. CINP 2000 (abs) 3. Tandon R. CINP 2000 (abs) Related link: Seroquel. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright © 1999 P\S\L Consulting Group Inc. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of P\S\L content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of P\S\L. 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