April 13, 2009br /br /The Los Angeles Times reports that although “children are most likely to suffer severe weight gain and metabolic disturbances” from a “new generation of antipsychotic medication” called atypical antipsychotics, “the use of these drugs to treat children has seen steady, steep growth.” To date, “only risperidone (marketed as Risperdal) has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use by children diagnosed with schizophrenia,” so “virtually all of that prescribing has been off-label.”br /br /This new generation of antipsychotic medications – Abilify, Seroquel, Zyprexa, Geodon, Clozaril and Risperdal – are called “atypicals” because they work differently than the earlier generation of antipsychotic drugs. To date, only Abilify had been granted the legal right to market to a vast new population of patients beyond those with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. This week, an FDA advisory panel recommended that the same expanded rights should be give to a second atypical antipsychotic drug, Seroquel XR.br /br /Mounting research has made clear that atypical antipsychotics are not only less safe than originally thought; they are not, on balance, any safer or more effective than older medications for schizophrenia. Furthermore, among the population of depressed or anxious patients that some are now proposed to treat, studies suggest the benefits are extremely modest. The FDA finally voiced concerns but experts said it too late, physicians have already been marketed to use atypical antipsychotics to treat mental disorders far less severe than schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.br /br /The spreading use of these costly drugs is rising. The rates and the risks of weight gain, diabetes, strokes, fatal heart attacks, an array of movement disorders and potentially, suicide, according to a wide range of critics.br /br /”This is very worrisome; frankly I have serious concerns about these drugs,” says Dr. Steven Nissen, who is chairman of the Cleveland Clinic’s cardiovascular medicine department and serves as an ad hoc advisor for FDA panels. Studies point to a “very questionable balance between efficacy and safety” for the class, he said. But that message, he said, has been lost in an apparent “marketing bonanza” for the companies that make the medications. A recent report by the consulting firm Decision Resources found the makers of the atypicals spent $993 million in 2006 to promote the drugs to doctors and patients.br /br /strongDr. Grout’s Comment:/strongbr /br /The latest stats suggest that 1 in 6 American children has a developmental disability. There is a lot of money to be made in drugging them all. But let’s not. Let’s work with their brains to repair as much as we can. Biofeedback using hemoencephalography, or a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/therapies/brain_advantage.html”HEG/a, can retrain the brain and make new neural connections, and we find that we can often make significant achievements in the children we work with. In addition to neurofeedback, we look at the big picture for other elements that can impact brain function – a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/allergies.html”allergies/a, a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/allergies.html#foods”food intolerances/a, a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/autoimmune_diseases.html#leakygut”digestive malabsorption/a, a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/body_burden.html”heavy metal toxicities/a, a href=”http://www.arizonaadvancedmedicine.com/articles/diabetes.html”blood glucose regulation/a, and more.div class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4769404502414351890-6365746053900220743?l=arizonaadvancedmedicine.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div