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Antipsychotics Raise Glucose, Cholesterol Levels In Schizophrenics
A DGReview of :"Changes in glucose and cholesterol levels in patients with schizophrenia treated with typical or atypical antipsychotics."
American Journal of Psychiatry
02/25/2003
By David Loshak
Glucose and cholesterol levels increase when schizophrenia patients are treated with anti-psychotic drugs.
Clozapine, olanzapine and haloperidol are associated with increased plasma glucose level, and clozapine and olanzapine with raised cholesterol, report researchers in Orangeburg, New York.
Although mean changes in glucose and cholesterol levels remained within clinically normal ranges, about one patient in seven studied by the researchers developed abnormally high glucose.
The researchers carried out a 14-week randomised, double-blind trial which assessed the effects of clozapine, olanzapine, risperidone and haloperidol on levels of glucose and cholesterol among 101 hospital in-patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder.
Fixed doses were given for eight weeks followed by variable doses for six weeks. Assessments included fasting glucose and cholesterol collected at baseline and at the end of each of these periods.
There were significant rises in mean glucose during the initial eight-weeks on fixed doses. At the end of this period, the 27 patients given clozapine and the 25 given haloperidol had significant increases in glucose levels.
At the end of the six-week variable dose period, the 22 olanzapine recipients showed significant rises in glucose levels.
Of the 101 patients, 14 (13.9%) developed abnormal glucose levels of more than 125 mg/dl. Of these 14, 6 had received clozapine, 4 olanzapine, 3 risperidone and 1 haloperidol.
Besides glucose levels, cholesterol levels too were higher at the end of the fixed-dose period in the patients given clozapine and olanzapine. Cholesterol levels were also higher at the end of the variable-dose period in olanzapine recipients.
American Journal of Psychiatry 2003;160:2:290-296.
"Changes in glucose and cholesterol levels in patients with schizophrenia treated with typical or atypical antipsychotics."
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