The drugs people take to help ease serious mental illnesses often contribute to weight and blood sugar problems - but researchers say a lifestyle intervention can be helpful on both fronts. By using our site, you agree to our Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. BMI is a measure of weight relative to height; the cutoff for “overweight” is 25. Those in the comparison group also lost some weight, but much smaller amounts, the authors write.In the intervention group, 40 percent of participants lost at least five percent of their initial body weight, and 18 percent lost at least 10 percent of their initial weight.Over the course of the year, fasting blood sugar levels went down in the intervention group, but they went up in the comparison group.Use of antipsychotic drugs in the U.S. has been on the rise since the 1990’s, especially among kids (see Reuters story of August 7, 2012 here: The intervention resulted in a relatively modest weight loss, and did not depend on the type of medication, said Dr. Daniel J. Mueller, who has done research on ways to improve psychiatric drug treatment at the Center for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto.Individual motivation is key when addressing weight loss, Mueller told Reuters Health by email. Next best is probably haloperidol. Your support helps wikiHow to create more in-depth illustrated articles and videos and to share our trusted brand of instructional content with millions of people all over the world. “That is really important because people with serious mental illness are already at much higher risk for obesity and obesity-related disease and they have a reduced life expectancy because of this.”A number of medication side-effects, including weight gain, deter some people from taking their prescribed antipsychotics, Green said.“Our study showed that if given the right tools, they can lose similar amounts of weight as people without severe mental illnesses,” she told Reuters Health by email.Clozapine (FazaClo), olanzapine (Zyprexa), quetiapine (Seroquel) and risperidone (Risperdal), which treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or other mental illnesses, have all been linked to increased risk of weight gain.Green and her team studied 200 adults who’d been taking antipsychotic medications for at least a month and who had a body mass index (BMI) of at least 27. You may be getting the generic. NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The drugs people take to help ease serious mental illnesses often contribute to weight and blood sugar problems - but researchers say a lifestyle intervention can be helpful on both fronts.The so-called “antipsychotic drugs” that patients take to control their symptoms tend to stimulate hunger and thirst and cause metabolic changes.But in a new test of a year-long intervention, people taking these drugs for illnesses like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were able to lose weight and improve their blood sugar levels.“The results are somewhat surprising because people with serious mental illnesses have many barriers to losing weight,” said lead author Carla A. Atypical antipsychotics, also known as second-generation antipsychotics, are commonly prescribed as treatment for psychotic disorders in adults, as well as in children and adolescents with behavioral problems. {"smallUrl":"https:\/\/www.wikihow.com\/images\/thumb\/2\/25\/Manage-Weight-on-Antipsychotic-Medication-Step-10.jpg\/v4-460px-Manage-Weight-on-Antipsychotic-Medication-Step-10.jpg","bigUrl":"\/images\/thumb\/2\/25\/Manage-Weight-on-Antipsychotic-Medication-Step-10.jpg\/aid8451300-v4-728px-Manage-Weight-on-Antipsychotic-Medication-Step-10.jpg","smallWidth":460,"smallHeight":345,"bigWidth":"728","bigHeight":"546","licensing":"