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Recent data suggest that use of atypical antipsychotic medications increases the risk for stroke. To examine the effect of antipsychotic drugs on risk for stroke and to determine whether dementia affects the risk, British researchers studied 6790 patients who had first strokes and at least one prescription for antipsychotic medications between 1988 and 2002. Patients were identified from a general practice research database with more than 6 million enrollees.
Overall, 905 patients were prescribed at least one atypical antipsychotic medication (most commonly, risperidone), and 6334 were prescribed at least one typical antipsychotic drug (most commonly, phenothiazines). The median age at first prescription was 80. Dementia was diagnosed in 142…