A new research, issued by Archives of Internal Medicine, found that elder patients with diabetes has an increased risk for hyperglycemia when they are prescribed an anti-psychotic medication, specially in the first 2 weeks after starting the medication. The risk was 50% higher than their counterparts who did not take anti-psychotic medication for at least 6 months.
Lorraine L. Lipscombe, MD, from the University of Toronto, Canada, suggest that physicians should be vigilant in monitoring the glycemic levels in elderly patients with diabetes who begin anti-psychotic therapy. Because, diabetes in older patients is generally not as well controlled as in younger ones and elder patients may be less likely to report early on their symptoms of increased urination or thirst or dehydration.
The research included 13,817 patients aged 66 years or older with diabetes who began taking an anti-psychotic drug between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2006, and were followed up for an average of 2 years. The anti-psychotic drugs that used in the reasearch were atypical agents group, such as olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone, and older traditional agents group. The research subjects were divided into 3 groups, those treated with insulin (14.4%), those taking oral hypoglycemic agents (45.5%), and those not taking any diabetes treatment (40.2%).
During the follow-up, 11% of the patients were hospitalized for hyperglycemia and 24.1% of them were on insulin, 13.1% were taking oral hypoglycemic agents and 3.8% were not taking any diabetes medications.
Dr. Lipscombe found that all anti-psychotic agents are equal when it comes to the risk of hyperglycemia. The increased risk was similar for both typical and atypical agents. A previous study suggested that anti-psychotics may affect insulin secretion, while the other suggested that anti-psychotics' effect on dopamine levels, plays a role in regulating blood glucose levels.
Reference:
Lorraine L. Lipscombe, MD, from the University of Toronto, Canada, suggest that physicians should be vigilant in monitoring the glycemic levels in elderly patients with diabetes who begin anti-psychotic therapy. Because, diabetes in older patients is generally not as well controlled as in younger ones and elder patients may be less likely to report early on their symptoms of increased urination or thirst or dehydration.
The research included 13,817 patients aged 66 years or older with diabetes who began taking an anti-psychotic drug between 1 April 2002 and 31 March 2006, and were followed up for an average of 2 years. The anti-psychotic drugs that used in the reasearch were atypical agents group, such as olanzapine, quetiapine, and risperidone, and older traditional agents group. The research subjects were divided into 3 groups, those treated with insulin (14.4%), those taking oral hypoglycemic agents (45.5%), and those not taking any diabetes treatment (40.2%).
During the follow-up, 11% of the patients were hospitalized for hyperglycemia and 24.1% of them were on insulin, 13.1% were taking oral hypoglycemic agents and 3.8% were not taking any diabetes medications.
Dr. Lipscombe found that all anti-psychotic agents are equal when it comes to the risk of hyperglycemia. The increased risk was similar for both typical and atypical agents. A previous study suggested that anti-psychotics may affect insulin secretion, while the other suggested that anti-psychotics' effect on dopamine levels, plays a role in regulating blood glucose levels.
Reference:
- Medscape
1 comment:
Bismillah,
Nice posting.. cool.!!
Post a Comment