BACKGROUND The -1438A/G polymorphism of the 5-HT2A gene has been found to be associated with clinical response to clozapine and other second generation antipsychotics. Testing the impact of this marker on response to first generation antipsychotics (which have a lower affinity for the 5-HT2A receptor) provides the opportunity to help disentangling the two different roles that this polymorphism ...

OBJECTIVE We sought to meta-analytically assess the utility of antipsychotics in patients with primary alcohol dependence. DATA SOURCES We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, and PsycINFO without language restrictions from database inception until December 2012, using the following keywords: (randomized, random, OR randomly) AND (placebo) AND (alcohol dependence) AND (neuroleptic OR antipsycho...

BACKGROUND Psychotropic medication is commonly used in nursing homes, to treat behavioural and psychological symptoms of dementia (BPSD) for example. Treatment with antipsychotics may improve BPSD in some residents but can be associated with serious side effects, such as higher mortality, faster disease progression and cerebrovascular events. In the current study, psychotropic medication use wa...

BACKGROUND Antipsychotics are frequently and increasingly prescribed to treat the behavioural symptoms associated with dementia despite their modest efficacy. Evidence regarding the potential adverse events of antipsychotics is limited and little is known about the longer-term safety of these medicines in the elderly. The aim of this review was to determine the impact of the choice of observati...

ACUTE DRUG-INDUCED MOVEMENT DISORDERS Acute drug-induced movement disorders, such as acute dystonia, parkinsonism, and akathisia, are very common side effects of dopamine blocking agents. A causal relationship between these movement disorders and antipsychotics is beyond any doubt if (i) antipsychotic-naïve psychotic patients without movement disorders receive antipsychotics and develop these s...

neuroleptic malignant syndrome (nms) is unusual but could be a lethal reaction associated with neuroleptic drugs. it occurs in almost 0.07-2.2% of patients under treatment with neuroleptics. there are some medical treatments that may also be helpful for its treatment, including dopamine agonists, muscle relaxants, and electroconvulsive therapy (ect). we present this case to alert the clinicians...

We reported a case of severe symptomatic hyponatremia with serum sodium level 113 mmol/l after 2 weeks commencement types atypical antipsychotics; clozapine and amisulpiride indapamide, thiazide-like diuretic antihypertensive medication. Discontinuation indapamide despite continuation his antipsychotics showed improvement in level. The aim our case-report is to emphasize the life-threatening co...

OBJECTIVE To compare the incidence of admissions to hospital for stroke among older adults with dementia receiving atypical or typical antipsychotics. DESIGN Population based retrospective cohort study. SETTING Ontario, Canada. Patients 32,710 older adults (< or = 65 years) with dementia (17,845 dispensed an atypical antipsychotic and 14,865 dispensed a typical antipsychotic). MAIN OUTCOM...

Background: The use of antipsychotics has been crucial in the treatment of schizophrenic patients. However, clozapine, as well as most atypical antipsychotics, may lead to higher weight gain and metabolic changes.Objective: To compare the frequency of overweight and obesity between schizophrenic patients exposed to clozapine to the prevalence of patients exposed to other antipsychotics....