August 29, 2008
Antipsychotic Use In Elderly Increases Stroke Risk
Well, this should be another nail in the coffin of antipsychotic use in the elderly: British researchers report in the BMJ that antipsychotic use in elderly patients increases the risk of stroke. What's more that risk increases even more with the use of the second generation antipsychotics (aka, the atypicals). This risk is even higher in people with dementia. You can go read the paper here and see the numbers for yourself.
But of course these drugs are still healthy for small children!
I've previously written about risks of using these drugs in the elderly many times.
Posted by Philip Dawdy at August 29, 2008 12:03 AM
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and because these meds have side effects listed in the fine print as psychosis, it really causes one to wonder WHY the FDA does not add a black box warning on antipsychotics.
The fact that the FDA approved them for use in kids makes NO sense at all. They only have data on demented elderly! that was stated by an FDA spokesperson on the PBS Medicated Child program.
If these drugs are safe for children then I am the Pope!
