Risperidone Risperdal side effects and benefits

Risperidone is a pharmaceutical drug used in the treatment for schizophrenia. The product name is Risperdal. Risperidone has been approved since 1993 for the short-term treatment of adults with schizophrenia, and since 2003 for the short-term treatment of adults with acute manic or mixed episodes associated with extreme mood swings. Risperidone is marketed by Janssen, L.P. in Titusville, NJ.

Risperidone side effects
Risperidone
has side effects that include causing obesity and diabetes mellitus.

Glucose and lipid metabolism of long-term risperidone monotherapy in patients with schizophrenia.
Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2007 Feb;61(1):54-8. Department of Psychiatry, Hokkaido University Graduate School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan.
The aim of the present study was to investigate glucose and lipid metabolism, and feeding-control parameters in schizophrenia patients treated with long-term risperidone monotherapy. Fifteen patients with paranoid-type schizophrenia who had been treated with risperidone and had Global Assessment of Function (GAF) scores >70 were selected and compared with healthy volunteers (n = 25). Single assessments of psychotic symptoms, side-effects, Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Symptoms Scale (DIEPSS) score, bodyweight, body fat percentage and blood sampling were performed. Fasting blood glucose, insulin, hemoglobin A1c, homeostasis model assessment insulin resistance index (HOMA-IR), total cholesterol, triglyceride, high density lipoprotein (HDL)-, low density lipoprotein-cholesterol, adiponectin, prolactin and feeding-control parameters (ghrelin and leptin) were analyzed. The body fat percentage, body mass index (BMI), fasting blood glucose, triglyceride, leptin, total ghrelin, active ghrelin and prolactin levels of patients treated with risperidone were significantly higher than those of healthy volunteers, while the HDL-cholesterol level was significantly lower. Although the patients had very mild psychiatric symptoms and maintained functionally high levels, the glucose and lipid parameters were significantly impaired compared to healthy volunteers. A high level of plasma ghrelin might increase appetite, leading to exacerbation of metabolic impairment.

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