Antipsychotics linked to diabetes in kids

[SoCalDem]

http://www.wishtv.com/news/health/antipsychotics-linked-to-diabetes-in-kids



By Elizabeth Landau

Published: Wednesday, August 21, 2013, 7:08 PM EDT

Antipsychotics have already been linked to type II diabetes in adults. Now a new study shows a connection between these medications and the chronic medical condition in kids as well. Researchers report in the journal JAMA Psychiatry that children taking antipsychotics have three times the risk of developing type II diabetes, compared to children taking other psychotropic medications (drugs prescribed to treat mental disorders). The study authors were surprised by the magnitude of the results. But the findings make sense, given that the side effects of antipsychotics include weight gain and insulin resistance, said Wayne A. Ray, study co-author and researcher in the Department of Preventive Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. However, the study shows an association, not a cause-effect relationship. It's not uncommon for an adult taking antipsychotic medications to gain 20 to 40 pounds in a relatively short period of time, Ray said. Similar weight gain effects have been observed in children, proportionate to their body sizes.

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Antipsychotics are prescribed to some children with attention and conduct disorders because these medications are potent tranquilizers, and can reduce the occurrence of some types of behavior problems such as aggressiveness, Ray said. But all of these mental conditions have other therapeutic options, and antipsychotics are often a secondary or off-label choice, the study said.

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Researchers examined the medical records of patients between the ages of 6 and 24 who were enrolled in the Tennessee Medicaid program. The sample size was large: There were 28,858 participants who had recently started taking antipsychotic drugs, and 14,429 in the control group who had recently begun a different psychotropic medication. The most common diagnoses in the study group were ADHD and other problems of conduct, Ray said. Other conditions for which antipsychotics were prescribed included depression and bipolar disorders.

Results

Study authors found a three-fold increased risk of type II diabetes in the patients taking antipsychotics, compared to those who were taking other psychotropic drugs. The risk was found particularly in children ages 6 to 17.. Researchers observed this association between antipsychotics and diabetes within one year of follow-up. "We typically think of type II diabetes as a disease that takes a long time to develop, but what our finding implies is that even rather short-term use of these drugs in children and youth might not be safe with regard to diabetes," Ray said. The total amount of antipsychotics patients took during the study period affected their risk of developing type II diabetes as well, researchers found; the higher the cumulative dose, the higher the risk. And for up to a year after participants stopped using antipsychotics, the risk remained heightened.

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This study did not examine patients who had type II diabetes and whether the condition could be reversed, but Ray said there could be diabetes cases among users of psychotropic drugs in which it becomes a lifetime chronic disease. "Before you’re going to expose a child to a medication that has many dangers –- not just the one we’ve uncovered, but many others –- you should think carefully about alternatives," Ray said. "My opinion is that only after you've tried those other things, should you then think about antipsychotics."

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[KamaAina]

1. You'll never believe what Risperdal is linked to

Moobs!

http://www.gynecomastiaspecialist.com/blog/gynecomastia-a-side-effect-of-risperdal/

Risperdal is a drug manufactured by Janssen a subsidiary of Johnson and Johnson (J & J). The drug was approved for adults by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1993 as an anti-psychotic drug for the treatment of schizophrenia. In 2003, Risperdal was approved for expanded use to include treatment of acute manic or mixed episodes associated with Bipolar I disorder in adults. In 2006, Risperdal received its first approval for treatment of children between the ages of 5 and 16 for irritability associated with autistic disorder. In 2007, it was approved for children as young as 10 for treatment of schizophrenia and Bipolar I disorder as for adults.

It has been noted that the drug elevates the hormone prolactin, high amounts are normally found in breast feeding women, for others high amounts can cause breast budding, breast growth, gynecomastia, and even production of milk in all patients including young girls, boys and adult men. In several studies, the elevation of prolactin became apparent after only eight weeks of being on Risper

dal.

[SoCalDem]

2. I am sooooo glad I stood my ground when my 3 rowdy boys were in school

They were handing out ADDHD meds like candy, but I always refused

[Mnemosyne]

3. My daughter told them to go pound salt when they strongly suggested my grandson be dosed. He is a

normal kid, not a couch potato kid and they want any non-docile child medicated, imho.

They just medicated a friend's 11 yo grand-daughter with Tegretol for behavior issues, she's a zoned little zombie now.

[SoCalDem]

4. For our bays , we used

skateboards, bicycles, soccer.. and of course we rode them like ponies about homework.. They did not HAVE any of the disorders, but schools back then really pushed meds on boys..

[Mnemosyne]

6. They still are pushing it. He's 12. Heaven forbid a kid be active and alive, rather than drugged by

the media, the toxins in food or medications.

[bravenak]

5. I gained forty pounds in two months on zyprexa.

It is still here on my body. Makes you crave sweets too.

[CBGLuthier]

7. Poison. People give their children poison.

a little ADHD and shove some pills down their throat. They would have gotten me but I grew up before this sickening "advance" in medical "science." I mean greed.