A new Australian program may hail a reprieve for young people affected by the weight gain side-effect of psychosis medication.
The Garvin Institute’s Early Psychosis Program yielded significant health benefits within12 to 16 weeks by incorporating a supported diet and exercise program, psychosis medication and in some cases Metformin, which previous studies have found to be effective in the adverse metabolic effects of antipsychotics.
Dr Jackie Curtis from the Bondi Early Psychosis Program told Psychiatry Update: “Before now, we psychiatrists haven’t seen weight gain as our business. But the fact is more psychosis patients die as a result of cardiovascular morbidity than suicide.”
Weight gain could compound depression and prompt patients to stop taking their psychosis medication to counter the physical effects,...
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