The findings of a new study add to the growing number of studies criticizing the class of newer antipsychotics, also known as atypical antipsychotics. The category includes bestsellers Zyprexa, Risperdal and Seroquel, which are among the 10 most commonly prescribed medications in the world.

 

For the study, published in the Jan. 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and Geriatric Research, Education, and Clinic Center in Nashville analysed medical data from 93,300 people who used older or newer antipsychotic drugs and 186,600 nonusers.

The researchers used the following pattern: for each participant who took antipsychotics, they matched the medical data of two people who didn’t use the medications, but had the same age and sex.

 

The study demonstrates once again that the drugs are associated with an increased risk of sudden cardiac death, particularly at higher doses. Patients taking either conventional or atypical antipsychotics were about twice as likely to die of a heart attack as those not taking the drugs, with the risk of death increasing with dose and the length of time on the medication, according to the study.

 

According to recent estimates, the number of prescriptions for the drugs written for children and adolescents doubled to 4.4 million from 2003 to 2006. The phenomenon may be attributed in part to the increase in diagnoses of bipolar disorder.

 

The researchers advise doctors to treat any other condition, such as high blood pressure, that can affect the functioning of the heart. They also recommend that physicians first try safer alternatives before prescribing an antipsychotic. People suffering from other conditions such as bipolar disorder could consider mood stabilizers, a different class of drugs that includes lithium and valproic acid, instead of antipsychotics.

 

Dr. Sebastian Schneeweiss, an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, advises doctors to “sharply” reduce the use of these drugs to treat conditions others than acute psychosis and schizophrenia.

 

The newer-generation drugs were developed to avoid the side effects of older drugs, which can produce Parkinson-like symptoms, such as involuntary movements, rigidity and even permanent physical disabilities.

 

Another study published online by the American Journal of Psychiatry found no major differences in treatment outcomes, but found significant differences between older and newer antipsychotics in side effects among youths taking the drugs. All drugs were found to relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia, but the children who took the newer drugs gained about 13 pounds during the treatment and they also experienced increases in total cholesterol, LDL “bad” cholesterol, insulin and liver enzymes.

 

Experts, however, continue to say that the medications on the market may be necessary but not sufficient. Studies emphasize the need for a third-generation of medications that are far more effective than those already tested.