Do Antipsychotics Cause Clinically Important Thyroid Abnormalities?

Deviant thyroid states occur with greater frequency in patients with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia than in the general population. Use of psychotropic medications can alter thyroid function, and deviant thyroid functioning can produce psychiatric symptoms. Most studies examining associations between thyroid function and antipsychotics have been small, and few have examined the influence of additional psychotropic drugs in individuals on antipsychotics. These researchers examined Norwegian data on 1345 nonacute patients with severe mental disorder (schizophrenia-spectrum disorders, bipolar disorders, depression with psychotic symptoms, or psychosis not otherwise specified), of whom 152 reported no psychotropic drug use, and 989 healthy …