Children on antipsychotics 3 times more likely to develop diabetes (a known side effect of antipsychotics)

Dr. Dina Panagiotopoulos, a pediatric endocrinologist at BC Children’s who was the principal investigator in the study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, said the increased rates of obesity mean youth face a higher risk of heart disease and cholesterol.

Kelly Sinoski
Vancouver Sun
November 11, 2009

Children and youth on certain antipsychotic medications are more prone to getting diabetes and becoming fat, according to a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.

But the British Columbia doctors involved in the two-year study say parents shouldn’t rush to take their children off the drugs and instead should consult their physicians on ways to monitor and beat the metabolic side-effects.

“On the one hand, the medication has significant and worrying side-effects,” said study co-author Dr. Jana Davidson, medical director of child and adolescent mental health and addiction programs at BC Children’s Hospital.

“On the other hand, in some of these cases the kids being on medication is what allows them to function in their lives and allows them to stay in their families.”

About 6,000 youth in B.C. are on antipsychotic medications and prescription rates have been soaring in the past five years, according to the study.

Between 2002 and 2006, prescriptions of atypical or second-generation antipsychotics for B.C. youth rose by about 22 per cent, from one in 200 youth to one in 154.

Read entire article: http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Children+antipsychotic+drugs+more+prone+diabetes+Canadian+study/2212393/story.html

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