Clozapine Linked To Diabetes Risk

Filed in archive Research on June 30, 2006

The anti-psychotic drug clozapine (Clozaril), which is considered the most effective drug in its class and the only drug currently approved for suicide prevention, may lead its users into diabetes.

A recent study showed that patients taking the drug had a far higher occurrence of metabolic syndrome than the general population. Metabolic syndrome is often considered a precursor of diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of conditions that can increase the risk for diabetes, stroke, and heart disease. Some of the conditions include high blood pressure, insulin resistance, abnormal levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, and excess body fat around the waist. Patients with metabolic syndrome are usually at two- to three-times greater risk for cardiovascular disease-related mortality.

J. Steven Lamberti, M.D., says, "There are long-term health implications (with clozapine). This study suggests that patients who need the most effective medication are between a rock and a hard place."

Indeed. What do we most need to protect, the body or the mind? And is it right to be expected to choose?