NEW YORK: New research links antipsychotic use to increased mortality in patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).
A new analysis showed that patients with PD receiving an antipsychotic had more than twice the risk for death than patients with PD not taking one of these drugs.
Psychosis occurs in up to 60% of patients with PD, many of whom receive an antipsychotic, lead author, Daniel Weintraub, MD, associate professor, Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, said. But because little evidence supports the use of these drugs in PD, they should be prescribed cautiously in this population.
“Now that we have this additional data that suggests that their use may also be associated with an increased risk of mortality, they should be used even more cautiously.”
The study, a collaborative research project among Dr Weintraub, senior author Helen Kates, MD, professor, psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and colleagues, was published online March 21…