Zyprexa

Overall, the conventional group had a 37 percent greater risk of death than the atypical drug group; risk was highest right after treatment started and for those taking higher doses.

Whether people had dementia or lived in a nursing home did not alter the risk.

WHO MAY BE AFFECTED BY THESE FINDINGS?

Older people.

CAVEATS: The FDA concluded that atypical antipsychotics increase the risk of death by 65 percent, compared with taking a placebo.

Based on that, the current study suggests that conventional drugs roughly double a person's risk of dying, according to the authors.

The study did not reveal causes of death, nor did it determine how or why antipsychotics affect mortality risk.

FIND THIS STUDY: Dec.

1 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine; abstract available online at nejm.org.

LEARN MORE about antipsychotics at intelihealth.com (search for "antipsychotic drugs" in quotation marks) and nimh.nih.gov.

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