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Prescription Meds Can Put on Unwanted Pounds
Posted 2 Mar 2012 by Drugs.com
FRIDAY, March 2 – Medications taken by millions of Americans for mood disorders, high blood pressure, diabetes and other chronic conditions can have an unhealthy side effect: weight gain. While other choices exist for some types of drugs, adjusting medications is not simply a matter of switching, said Ryan Roux, chief pharmacy officer with the Harris County Hospital District, in Houston. In the late 1990s, Dr. Lawrence Cheskin conducted early research on prescription medicines and obesity. "Some medicines make an early, noticeable difference, causing patients to become ravenously hungry, while changes are subtle for others. A few months taking them and you've gained 10 pounds," said Cheskin, now director of the Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center, in Baltimore. To help increase awareness, Roux and his pharmacist group have compiled a list of "weight-promoting" and "weight-neutral or ... Read more
Related support groups: Bipolar Disorder, High Blood Pressure, Zoloft, Diabetes, Type 2, Wellbutrin, Seroquel, Prednisone, Prozac, Hypertension, Metformin, Paxil, Gabapentin, Lamictal, Sprintec, Mirena
Bipolar Drug May Spur Weight Gain, Thyroid Problems: Review
Posted 19 Jan 2012 by Drugs.com
THURSDAY, Jan. 19 – A new medical review finds that lithium, a common treatment for bipolar disorder, can lead to weight gain and causes high rates of abnormalities in the thyroid and parathyroid glands. But the researchers found few signs of a link to skin problems or hair loss, and a suspected connection to birth defects hasn't been proven, according to the report published in the Jan. 20 online edition of The Lancet. Overall, the findings reaffirm lithium's role as "a treatment of choice for bipolar disorder," two doctors wrote in an accompanying editorial. While lithium is less popular than it was in the 1970s and '80s as a treatment for bipolar disorder, it's probably the most effective available mood stabilizer, said Dr. Bryan Bruno, acting chairman of the department of psychiatry at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City, who was not involved with the review but is familiar with ... Read more
Related support groups: Bipolar Disorder, Lithium, Lithobid, Eskalith, Lithonate, Lithotabs, Eskalith-CR
Schizophrenia Drugs May Spur Subtle Brain Tissue Loss
Posted 10 Feb 2011 by Drugs.com
MONDAY, Feb. 7 – The use of antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia is associated with the loss of a small but measurable amount of brain tissue, a new study finds. It included 211 schizophrenia patients who each underwent an average of three MRI brain scans over 7.2 years, for a total of 674 scans in the study group. The researchers then examined how four factors affected changes in brain volume over time: illness duration, illness severity, substance abuse and treatment with antipsychotic drugs. Longer duration of illness and antipsychotic treatment were both associated with loss of brain tissue. Higher doses of antipsychotics were associated with overall brain tissue loss, reduced gray matter and progressive declines in white matter. Illness severity and substance abuse had little or no association with brain tissue changes, according to the study, published in the February issue ... Read more
Related support groups: Seroquel, Abilify, Lithium, Geodon, Zyprexa, Schizophrenia, Risperdal, Seroquel XR, Saphris, Risperidone, Haldol, Quetiapine, Compazine, Haloperidol, Clozapine
Lithium of No Benefit in ALS, Study Finds
Posted 11 Aug 2010 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Aug. 11 – A new study appears to dash hopes that the psychiatric drug lithium can benefit patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The investigation involving 171 people with ALS was stopped early, in November 2009, because of high dropout rates from death, side effects or because patients thought the drug was ineffective. ALS – sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease after the N.Y. Yankee who died of the condition – is a progressive nervous system disorder that causes weakness in muscles, including those controlling breathing and swallowing. Median survival is three years, and only one drug – riluzole – is approved for ALS treatment in the United States. Interest in lithium, which is often used to treat bipolar disorder, increased after a small Italian study was published two years ago, suggesting a beneficial effect for ALS patients, said Dr. Adriano Chio, an ... Read more
Related support groups: Lithium, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lithobid, Eskalith, Lithonate, Lithotabs, Eskalith-CR
No Evidence That Lithium Helps in ALS
Posted 6 Apr 2010 by Drugs.com
TUESDAY, April 6 – The drug lithium doesn't delay progression of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease, and shouldn't be used to treat patients with the disease, researchers say. The findings from a new study contradict promising results from a small pilot study that led to a high level of off-label use of lithium to treat people with ALS, a fatal motor neuron condition. Traditionally, lithium is used to treat bipolar affective disorder. Currently, there is no cure for ALS. The only approved drug for treatment of ALS is riluzole, which has been shown to extend patients' lives by an average of three months. In the new study, American and Canadian researchers randomly assigned 84 ALS patients to receive either riluzole and a placebo or riluzole and lithium. The trial was stopped early after initial findings suggested that lithium would have little or no effect. ... Read more
Related support groups: Lithium, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Lithobid, Eskalith, Lithonate, Lithotabs, Eskalith-CR
Lithium Beats Valproate for Long-Term Bipolar Therapy
Posted 24 Dec 2009 by Drugs.com
WEDNESDAY, Dec. 23 – People with bipolar I disorder will do best over the long term with lithium treatment alone or a combination of lithium and valproate compared to valproate alone, new research suggests. Patients who underwent the lithium or lithium/valproate treatments were less likely to relapse regardless of how severe their conditions were at the beginning of treatment, the study authors reported in the Dec. 22 online edition of The Lancet. But the researchers couldn't say if the combined treatment is better or worse than lithium alone. People with bipolar disorder have trouble regulating their moods and can swing between highs and lows. In most cases, patients have illness that is chronic or recurs over time. Doctors often prescribe combinations of drugs for these patients after single drugs fail to work, according to background information in a news release about the study. ... Read more
Related support groups: Bipolar Disorder, Lithium, Valproic Acid, Depakene, Lithobid, Stavzor, Eskalith, Lithotabs, Eskalith-CR, Lithonate
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Related Condition Support Groups
Bipolar Disorder, Schizoaffective Disorder, Mania, Cluster Headaches
Related Drug Support Groups
Lithobid, Eskalith, Eskalith-CR, Lithonate, Lithotabs