Blog Category: Antipsychotic medication

New Study of Antipsychotic Use in Dementia

Call for guidelines for the use of antipsychotic drugs by people with dementia in nursing homes. New study suggests regular scrutiny of prescriptions and targeted education for physicians and nurses. [more…]…

Diabetes Screening Inadequate in Mentally Ill

New research shows that despite long-standing recommendations that severely mentally ill patients who take antipsychotics undergo annual screening for diabetes and other metabolic disorders, only 30% receive such screening. A recent research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine described a retrospective …

Long-Acting Injectable Antipsychotic To Prevent Relapse in First Episode Schizophrenia

Research published in JAMA Psychiatry demonstrated that long-acting, injectable, second-generation antipsychotic medication has tremendous potential to bring clinical stability to persons with first-episode schizophrenia. According to the authors, “long-acting medications are rarely used following a first episode of schizophrenia.”

Patients …

APA Joins ‘Choosing Wisely’ Project With Cautions on Antipsychotic Prescribing

APA has released a list of cautionary principles that should be considered when prescribing antipsychotic medications, noting that they are sometimes prescribed inappropriately.…

Beyond Dopamine: Glutamate as a Target in Schizophrenia

An interesting review in ISRN Pharmacology, a peer-reviewed, open access journal, describes that for the last 60 years, antipsychotic pharmacology targeting antagonism of dopamine (DA) D2 receptors have been the primary treatment choice for schizophrenia. The clinical improvement seen …

Impact of Preexisting Metabolic Risk Factors on the Choice of Antipsychotics

A study in this month’s Psychiatric Services examined the association between patients’ preexisting metabolic risk factors and the physician’s choice of antipsychotic agent based on its propensity to cause metabolic side effects.

Over a span of 3 years, 1,898 office-based …

Psychiatrists fail to monitor patients for metabolic side-effects of medication

According to a new study in Psychological Medicine, people treated in psychiatric settings are receiving inadequate medical monitoring while taking antipsychotic medication

New research from the University of Leicester demonstrates that psychiatrists are not offering adequate checks for metabolic …