Weight Gain with Olanzapine: Does Metformin Help?

Patients lost a little, but not enough to make a difference.

Patients gain a lot of weight with atypical antipsychotics; one recent study found an average gain of more than 37 pounds with olanzapine (Journal Watch Psychiatry Aug 27 2007). Few placebo-controlled studies have been conducted into possibly helpful medications. Because some patients taking atypicals develop the metabolic syndrome, which includes problems of glycemic control, metformin has been proposed as a potential treatment; however, results have been inconsistent (for a pediatric study, see Journal Watch Psychiatry Jan 12 2007). Recently, investigators in Venezuela performed a 12-week, randomized, placebo-controlled trial in 80 patients (60 inpatients, 76 diagnosed with schizophrenia) who had been receiving treatment with olanzapine f…

Reviewing Author

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Leadership Positions in Professional SocietiesNorth American Brain Injury Association (Board Member); National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (Chair of Data Monitoring Safety Board for study of donepezil on cognition after traumatic brain injury)

Jonathan Silver, MD

Disclosures

RoyaltiesTextbook of Traumatic Brain Injury, 2nd and 3rd editions

Editorial BoardsUpToDate; Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience

Weight Gain with Olanzapine: Does Metformin Help?

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Reviewing Author