NEW YORK — Newer anti-psychotic drugs are no safer than older ones for the risk of suddenly dying from a heart problem, says a study that finds they roughly double that hazard.
The older drugs had already been linked to an increased chance of sudden cardiac death, in which the heart loses its normal rhythm and can’t pump blood normally.
The older and newer anti-psychotics had also been shown to boost the risk of death when used to treat agitation, aggression and delusions in elderly dementia patients. The new study was conducted among a much broader group of adults, with an average age of 46 and various psychiatric problems.
Anti-psychotic drugs are approved for treating schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, which is also called manic- depression, but doctors can legally prescribe them for any other use.
The federally funded study appears in today’s issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. The Associated Press
