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The U.S. epidemic of obesity and diabetes holds special meaning for psychiatrists because their patients seem particularly at risk and because many psychotropic medications have metabolic effects. In October, the Food and Drug Administration mandated changes to the label for olanzapine to warn of its associations with increased levels of glucose, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. This past year saw several studies clarifying these issues.
One research group followed weight gain in 98 patients with first-episode schizophrenic or affective psychosis (91 were initiating antipsychotic treatment). A significantly higher percentage of atypical-antipsychotic recipients than of older-neuroleptic recipients experienced at least 7% weight gain at …