Diabetes and Suicide Rates Higher in Children Taking Antipsychotic Meds
Children taking antipsychotic medications are three times more likely to develop type 2 diabetes and 20 times more likely to commit suicide, studies revealed.
Diabetes Risk
Recently published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, the study by Vanderbilt University found that antipsychotic drugs increased the risk of diabetes in children and young adults by three-fold. The research involved some 28,858 children between ages 6 and 24 who were enrolled in the Tennessee Medicaid programme who had recently started medication treatment for mental illness.
The increased risk in diabetes occurred within the first year of taking the medication, and rose with cumulative doses. What’s more, the risk persisted for up to a year after the children stopped taking the medications. In the study group, the average age of drug-induced diabetes is 16.7 years.
Suicide Risk
People with mental illness are at a higher risk of committing suicide than those who do not have the condition. This is why treatment is necessary even during the initial stages of the disorder. However, the use of antipsychotic medications, which are widely prescribed these days, is making the problem worse.
Another study, which involved historic psychiatry evaluations, revealed that patients taking antipsychotic drugs are 20 times more likely to commit suicide. The paper entitled "Lifetime Suicide Rates in Treated Schizophrenia: and 1994-1998 Cohorts Compared" was the largest study ever to examine suicide risk and incidence in schizophrenia patients. Here, the researchers compared the suicide rates between 1875-1924 and 1994-1998. In the first period, suicide rates among schizophrenia patients were much smaller – 20 for every 100,000 hospital years, equating to less than 0.5% lifetime rate. But during 1994-1998, suicide rate was 135 per 100,000 patient years, or a 4% lifetime rate.
The sad truth is that even though there’s lack of scientific evidence on the effectiveness of antipsychotic medications and more proofs about their side effects, many people resort to such form of treatment to deal with mental illness. Numerous studies have shown that adjusting thought patterns, proper nutrition, physical activity, and healthy lifestyles appeared to be more effective in treating mental disorders.
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