In case you needed more proof that the new drugs being marketed today are no better than the cheaper, older drugs, well a new study was recently published just for you:

The six-year, multisite Treatment of Early Onset Schizophrenia Study (TEOSS) included 116 youth between 8 and 19 years old, diagnosed with early onset schizophrenia spectrum disorder (EOSS).

The TEOSS team randomly assigned the children to eight weeks of either olanzapine (Zyprexa) or risperidone (Risperdal)—both new generation atypical antipsychotics—or to the older conventional antipsychotic molindone (Moban) plus benztropine, a medication often used to reduce side effects like uncontrolled shaking or tremor that can be associated with molindone. [...]

Response rates after eight weeks of treatment were comparable among the three medications—50 percent of the children taking molindone improved, 46 percent taking risperidone improved, and 34 percent taking olanzapine improved. [...]

The treatment groups did differ in side effects. The children taking olanzapine gained about 13 pounds (6 kilograms) during the trial on average, while children taking risperidone gained about 8 pounds (3.6 kilograms), and those taking molindone did not gain weight.

The olanzapine group also showed increases in cholesterol levels and other metabolic disruptions that may have become dangerous. The outcome prompted the safety review board to end the olanzapine arm of the study in 2006.

So if you want to gain weight, pay more, or have increased cholesterol levels, ask for the newer drugs, by all means. Otherwise, as other research has shown, take whatever drug works best for you, even if it’s an older variety.

Read the full article: New Antipsychotics No Better Than Older Drugs

Dr. John Grohol is the CEO and founder of Psych Central. He is an author, researcher and expert in mental health online, and has been writing about online behavior, mental health and psychology issues -- as well as the intersection of technology and human behavior -- since 1992. Dr. Grohol sits on the editorial board of the journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking and is a founding board member and treasurer of the Society for Participatory Medicine.

Like this author?
Catch up on other posts by John M. Grohol, PsyD (or subscribe to their feed).

Comments

This post currently has 3 comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

No trackbacks yet to this post.

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 16 Sep 2008
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.