Thursday, August 28, 2003

3 Schizophrenia Drugs May Raise Diabetes Risk, Study Says
August 25 New York Times front page article - "Three drugs commonly prescribed for schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses increased patients' risk of developing diabetes when compared with older antipsychotic medications, researchers said yesterday, presenting the results from a long-awaited study of patients treated at veterans hospitals and clinics across the country. The drugs — Zyprexa, made by Eli Lilly, Risperdal, made by Jannsen Pharmaceutica, and Seroquel, made by AstraZeneca — were associated with higher rates of diabetes than older generation drugs for schizophrenia like Haldol, the study found. But the increased risk was statistically significant only for Zyprexa and Risperdal, the researchers said, possibly because of the smaller number of subjects who took Seroquel." [Viewing New York Times resources requires registration, which is free].  
  

Sertraline May Be Helpful for Major Depressive Disorder in Children
A new CME unit from Medscape Medical News - "Sertraline may be helpful in treating children with major depressive disorder (MDD), according to the results of two randomized, placebo-controlled trials published in the Aug. 27 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association. The editorialist reviews the recent history of use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) for MDD in children and reminds clinicians not to initiate treatment with paroxetine. He suggests that fluoxetine and sertraline may be preferable." [Viewing Medscape resources requires registration, whish is free]. See also the JAMA article, which is available at no charge.