Zyprexa

As a result, some doctors prescribe anti- psychotics to the children to calm them down — a strategy some doctors and parents say works.The drugs, which typically cost several dollars per pill, are considered safer than older anti-psychotics — at least in adults — but they still can have serious side effects, including weight gain, elevated cholesterol and diabetes.The study appears in the March-April edition of the journal Ambulatory Pediatrics.Heavy marketing by drug companies probably contributed to the increase in the use of anti-psychotic drugs among children, said Dr.

Daniel Safer, a psychiatrist affiliated with Johns Hopkins University, who called the potential side effects a concern.Safer said a few of his child patients with behavior problems are on the drugs after they were prescribed by other doctors.

Safer said he has let these children continue on the drugs, but at low doses, and he also does periodic tests for high cholesterol or warning signs of diabetes.Dr.

David Fassler, a University of Vermont psychiatry professor, said more research is needed before anti-psychotics should be considered standard treatment for atten...

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