Predictors of Weight Gain in Schizophrenic Patients Using Atypical Antipsychotics in Egypt

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background: Anti-psychotic drugs (APDs) are the most widely prescribed medications and are used frequently to control various mental disorders , Unfortunately, APDs may cause some serious side-effects including extra-pyramidal and metabolic side-effects , However the Atypical APDs have less extra-pyramidal side-effects so they currently form the first line of APD treatment yet they still have some serious metabolic side-effects, such as substantial weight gain, intra-abdominal obesity, hyperlipidemia , insulin resistance, hyperglycemia, and type II diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Aim of the Study:The aim of this study is to investigate whether BMI and some biochemical Parameters as Lipid profile and serum insulin add predictive information concerning risk for weight gain associated with treatment with atypical antipsychotics (AP).