Anti-Psychotic Drugs Lead to Loss of Brain Tissue?

By Alex Groberman, Tue, February 08, 2011

According to new reports, anti-psychotic drugs from companies like Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca Plc can lead to the loss of brain tissue. Other instances showed that the medicines can speed up declines in brain volumes caused by schizophrenia.

The study, which appeared in the Archives of General Psychiatry, featured researchers keeping track of 211 patients with newly diagnosed schizophrenia. The goal was to determine whether or not the progressive loss of brain tissue, which is widely attributed to the disease, could be traced back to the drugs used to treat it.

In the analysis it was determined that more anti-psychotic drug treatments had impacts on the decline in brain volume – whereas alcohol and illegal drug abuse had no effect.

Obviously, though, this doesn’t mean that patients should run out and toss away their medicines. Rather, this is more so a message to the doctors – find the lowest effective dose.

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that hits nearly one out of every 100 people. As a result, individuals have trouble distinguishing what is real and what isn’t, thinking logically or behaving “normally” in various social situations.

While treatment for this disorder with drugs has long-since been recommended by doctors, various side-effects have been noted in the past. These side-effects include weight loss, trouble sleeping and numerous other pesky conditions.

These latest findings, above all else, simply highlight that while these drugs clearly have their benefits and purposes, they do come with some very serious possible side-effects.

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