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October 22, 2004|Volume 33, Number 8



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Study finds anti-psychotic drugs
increase risk of developing diabetes

The rate of diabetes among persons taking certain newer anti-psychotic medications is higher than that found in the general population, Yale researchers report in a study in the American Journal of Psychiatry.

The study followed patients with schizophrenia and no history of diabetes who used four of six new atypical medications or conventional anti-psychotic medications. The atypical medications -- clozapine, risperidone, olanzapine and quetiapine -- are considered to cause fewer severe side effects. Two atypical medications were not included because they had just been approved at the time the study began.

Of the 56,849 patients in the sample, 7.3% of patients were diagnosed with diabetes mellitus during the one- to two-year follow-up period, corresponding to an annual incidence rate of 4.4%. The rate was higher for patients taking clozapine and olanzapine.

"The rate is five to 10 times higher than the estimated rate of 6.3 cases per 1,000 in the general U.S. population," says Douglas Leslie, first author of the paper and assistant professor of psychiatry and epidemiology and public health.

Leslie and co-author Dr. Robert Rosenheck, professor of psychiatry and epidemiology and public health, says it is not known what causes the diabetes, but one possibility is weight gain associated with taking the medications. Other factors might be the mental illness itself, poorer overall physical health, unhealthy lifestyles, or less access to health care services, he says.

The study also found that only 0.2% of the patients were hospitalized for ketoacidosis -- which is an accumulation of ketone bodies associated with uncontrolled diabetes and is potentially life threatening.

Since they began their research, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration ordered all manufacturers of these drugs to include a warning on related medication labels about diabetes as a possible side effect.

-- By Jacqueline Weaver


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Yale Endowment gains 19.4%; total assets reach $12.7 billion

Creating a bike-friendly city is graduate student's goal

New Haven's (and Yale's) earliest bikers recalled in 'Bicycle: The History'

Faherty tapped as Yale's top Bulldog -- in virtual world

MEDICAL SCHOOL NEWS

Beinecke conference will explore influence of philosopher John Locke

School of Drama to stage historical Shakespearean play

Scenes by Mozart, Verdi and Gilbert & Sullivan to be highlights . . .

Composer and former dean to be lauded with concert

Demetz's contributions to 'culture of peace' recognized

Yale researchers discover cooperative RNA switches in nature

Visiting professor to talk about environment, energy

Oswaldo Rodriguez Roque symposium and lecture . . .

Symposium examined American modernism in the 1930s

Robert Lange, advocated for human subjects in research

Sixteen Yale affiliates win YUWO scholarships

Art and sole

Campus Notes


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