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Zyprexa: Patients
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Zyprexa should not be used to treat elderly patients who have dementia because the drug could increase the risk of stroke. In addition, antipsychotic drug treatment has been associated with swallowing and breathing problems in older people and those with Alzheimer's disease.
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FDA ALERT [04/2005] Zyprexa is a type of medicine called an atypical antipsychotic. FDA has found that older patients treated with atypical antipsychotics for dementia had a higher chance for death than patients who did not take the medicine. This is not an approved use.
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The most serious Zyprexa side effect is the development of diabetes and insulin resistance. Zyprexa patients are often unaware of the development of diabetes, something that can lead to a condition known as ketoacidosis. Prolonged ketoacidosis can potentially lead to Zyprexa coma and Zyprexa death if untreated.
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A 2001 report Journal of Clinical Psychiatry reported that the FDA knew of nineteen cases of diabetes associated with the use of Zyprexa - one of the patients died from pancreatitis associated with diabetes. Another study published in the medical journal Pharmacotherapy in July 2002, suggested a link between Zyprexa and elevated blood sugar disorders and complication, including hyperglycemia, diabetes, and potentially fatal diabetic ketoacidosis and coma. Researchers reported the 225 were newly diagnosed cases of diabetes among olanzapine (Zyprexa) users studied. One hundred of the Zyprexa patients developed ketosis (a serious complication of diabetes), 22 people developed pancreatitis (inflammation of the pancreas), and 23 of the patient died, including that of a 15-year-old adolescent who died of necrotizing pancreatitis, a condition where the pancreas breaks down and dies. The report found that most cases (71 percent) occurred within six months of starting the drug and many cases were associated with moderate weight gain.
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In 2001, the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry reported that the FDA was aware of nineteen cases of diabetes connected with the use of Zyprexa. One patient had died from pancreatitis, or inflammation of the pancreas, related to diabetes. Further reports of serious side effects associated with Zyprexa were then followed by the medical journal Pharmacotherapy, Japanese and British governmental health agencies, and the Wall Street Journal. The FDA finally began issuing a series of warning letters and recommending label changes beginning in September, 2003.
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In February 2004, doctors were warned of the significantly increased risk of death and stroke in elderly patients suffering from dementia when using Zyprexa. The Public Citizen consumer group has criticized doctors for routinely prescribing Zyprexa and other schizophrenia drugs to treat symptoms of dementia, including Alzheimer's disease, for which the medicines are not approved. Eli Lilly was already under federal investigation for the way it promoted an osteoporosis drug when the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania began a civil investigation of marketing and promotional practices of Zyprexa in March 2004.
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