By BENEDICT CAREY
Drugs (Eli Lilly Zyprexa) widely prescribed to treat severe
post-traumatic stress symptoms for veterans are no more effective than placebos
and come with serious side effects, including weight
gain and fatigue,
researchers reported
on Tuesday.
The surprising finding, from the largest study of its kind in veterans, challenges current treatment standards so directly that it could alter practice soon, some experts said.
Ten percent to 20 percent of those who see heavy combat develop lasting
symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder, and about a fifth of those who get
treatment receive a prescription for a so-called antipsychotic
medication, according to government numbers.
The new study, published in The Journal of the American Medical Association,
focused on one medication, Risperdal. But experts said that its results most
likely extend to the entire class, including drugs like (Zyprexa) Seroquel,
Geodon and Abilify.
“I think it’s a very important study” given how frequently the drugs have been prescribed, said Dr. Charles Hoge, a senior scientist at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, who was not involved in the study but wrote an editorial accompanying it. He added, “It definitely calls into question the use of antipsychotics in general for PTSD.”
The use of such drugs has grown sharply over the past decade, as thousands of returning soldiers and Marines have found that their post-traumatic stress symptoms do not respond to antidepressants, the only drugs backed by scientific evidence for the disorder. Doctors have turned to antipsychotics, which strongly affect mood, to augment treatment, based almost entirely on their experience with them and how they expect them to work.Daniel Haszard
Support site for Eli Lilly Zyprexa users who developed diabetes.
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