TUESDAY, July 28 (HealthDay News) -- Older diabetics who take
antipsychotic medications have an increased risk of ending up in the
hospital with elevated blood glucose levels, or hyperglycemia, researchers
say.
More and more seniors are being prescribed these medications for
dementia and other conditions, the study authors noted in their report in
the July 27 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.
In the study, Dr. Lorraine L. Lipscombe of the Institute for Clinical
Evaluative Sciences at the University of Toronto and Women's College
Research Institute at Women's College Hospital in Ontario, Canada, and
colleagues looked at 13,817 diabetic patients who were 66 and older. These
patients started taking antipsychotics between April 2002 and March 2006.
The researchers compared these patients' hospitalization rates for
hyperglycemia with the rates of patients who had stopped taking
antipsychotic medications for more than 180 days.
"Our study indicates that the initiation of antipsychotic therapy
represents a critical period during which seniors with diabetes are
particularly vulnerable to metabolic decompensation [the failure of the
metabolic system to function adequately]," the authors wrote in a news
release. "The new use of both atypical [newer] and typical antipsychotic
drugs was associated with a significant increase in hospitalizations for
hyperglycemia, which appeared independent of baseline diabetes treatment
and was strikingly high during the initial period of antipsychotic
therapy."
Other studies suggest that the neurotransmitter dopamine has a role in
keeping blood glucose levels under control. The researchers noted that
first-time antipsychotic users may get a disruption in this system and
hyperglycemia episodes may result.
Until experts do more studies, "other options to manage behavioral
symptoms of dementia should be considered among older persons with
diabetes," the authors concluded. "Patients and their families should be
alerted to observe for signs of glycemic decompensation when treatment
with an antipsychotic agent is initiated, and enhanced glucose monitoring
is recommended for all patients for whom an antipsychotic drug is
prescribed, particularly after treatment initiation."
More information
The American Diabetes Association has more about
diabetes.
