[u]Diet and exercise counteract drug effects[/u]
MONTREAL - Weight gain, a common side-effect of antipsychotic drugs, can be avoided with a nutrition and exercise program, researchers say.
In a University of Laval faculty of medicine study, patients on anti-psychotic drugs who were given counselling about diet and exercise actually lost weight.
“This is encouraging news for people suffering from mental illness because weight gain induced by anti
psychotic drugs has several negative side effects,” study co-author Jean Philippe Chaput said Wednesday.
Results of the 18-month study were published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry.
A group of 120 patients taking medication for schizophrenia, bipolar and psychotic disorders participated in the study.
Half the group got counselling about healthy eating and physical exercise, plus [b]twice-weekly workout sessions supervised by kinesiologists.
The active group lost an average of eight pounds and saw their waist sizes shrink by four per cent. They also reduced their cholesterol by about 25 per cent.
The sedentary group gained about eight pounds on average and their cholesterol jumped by 15 per cent.[/b]
Antipsychotic drugs suppress frightening hallucinations and delusions and allow people to live more normal lives in the community.
But the associated weight gain comes with a host of health problems, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes, said study co-author and kinesiologist Angelo Tremblay.
“Results are significant in that we have a good example of the use of a medication whose side-effects are totally counteracted by healthy life habits,” Tremblay said. The findings highlight the importance of ongoing weight control programs designed specifically for those on anti-psychotic treatment, he added.
An estimated one per cent of the population seeks treatment for psychotic disorders.
“The Laval study is model for most of us,” said psychiatrist David Bloom, medical chief of the psychotic disorders program at the Douglas Institute.
“It shows that when you have a certain side-effects, you have to put programs together to deal with it.”
