Antipsychotics in Pregnancy Double Diabetes Risk, Researchers Say

Posted on Jul 3, 2012

Emery Co Photo (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Women who take antipsychotic drugs during pregnancy are much more likely to develop diabetes and give birth to smaller babies, researchers report.

Scientists at the University of Uppsala in Sweden reviewed data on nearly 360,000 Swedish women who gave birth between 2005 and 2009. Antipsychotic drug use among those women was uncommon, with only 507 recorded as having taken them.

The two drugs found to be most commonly associated with “adverse metabolic effects” were Zyprexa and Clozaril.

—Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly

MedPage Today:

Analysis of Swedish national birth and health registry data showed that, relative to mothers-to-be not taking antipsychotic drugs, the risk of gestational diabetes was nearly doubled, according to Robert Bodén, MD, PhD, of Uppsala University in Uppsala, Sweden, and colleagues.

… Bodén and colleagues explained that babies born large for gestational age have previously been associated with gestational diabetes. Because the fetus is not insulin resistant, the high levels of sugar to which it is exposed prompt high levels of insulin secretion, which, in turn, produces macrosomia and increased fetal size.

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