Threefold Increased Stroke Risk Tied to Certain Antipsychotics

https://goo.gl/fqzxqZ

Investigators at the University of Buenos Aires, in Argentina, found that patients taking second-generation antipsychotics who experienced a high level or an intermediate level of metabolic changes had an almost threefold increased risk of experiencing a cardiovascular event ― especially stroke ― compared to their counterparts taking medications that were associated with a lower risk for metabolic changes.

"Older adult patients under antipsychotic regimens with high or intermediate risk of metabolic side effects may face a higher incidence of major cardiovascular events than those under a low-risk regimen during long-term follow-up," the researchers, with first author Alejandro G. Szmulewicz, MD, write.

The authors state that the higher risk for major cardiovascular events among those taking intermediate- or high-risk agents "appears to be mostly driven by the enhanced risk of stroke among our population, something that might be due to the high prevalence of patients with dementia or related to potential direct or indirect effects of antipsychotics."

Moreover, the great majority of patients who experienced cardiovascular events remained current users of these agents, suggesting "that isolated past exposure to these drugs had no relevant impact on the results reported."

"In the elderly, even with a short follow-up period of 36 months, you can actually see these cardiovascular effects, and they have to be taken seriously," he cautioned.