Many Psych Meds Trigger Weight Gain, But New Research Points to Better Options
Posted on Feb 19 2021
HealthDay
Scientists may have uncovered the reason critical medications for schizophrenia and bipolar disorder cause weight gain and diabetes, findings they hope will lead to better drugs. In fact, these side effects commonly drive patients to stop taking the drugs, said Dr. Ken Duckworth, CMO, NAMI. Duckworth, who was not involved in the new research, said it's important to understand why those adverse effects occur. These findings, he said, "begin to unravel" the issue. The takeaway, both Duckworth and Freyberg said, is that patients' difficulties with current antipsychotics are being heard. "Scientists are working on this," Duckworth said. For now, the challenge for patients is to manage the side effects the best they can. The first step is being aware that they can happen, Duckworth noted, since people being newly prescribed an antipsychotic are not necessarily able to process all the information they're receiving. For their part, Duckworth said, doctors should be monitoring patients' weight, blood sugar and cholesterol, to catch unhealthy changes.