Cardiovascular effects of antipsychotics and antidepressants
Cardiovascular effects of antipsychotics and antidepressants

Summary/Abstract: The spread of metal illnesses is still a very delicate problem. Statistics are made with great difficulty because epidemiological studies on such illnesses are very difficult to make and extremely expensive. The use of antipsychotic drugs implies a difficult compromise between the beneficial effects, which imply a decrease of the psychotic symptoms, and the risk of some adverse effects, sometimes quite upsetting and in some cases leading to a shortening of life expectancy. At the moment, there are multiple classes of specific antipsychotic drugs: first generation and second generation drugs. The biggest attention is given to the prolongation of the QT interval, by quinidine effects of some antipsychotics on the heart. Older antipsychotics, or first generation drugs, are less susceptible to produce motility disorders, but this is first observed with drugs closely linked to the dopaminergic receptors, such as haloperidol, and less with drugs that have a lower affinity, such as chlorpromazine. The latest antipsychotics or second generation drugs, especially clozapine and olanzapine, have the tendency to cause more side effects related to the metabolic syndrome, such as obesity and type II diabetes. The conclusion would be that an ECG should be carried out if initial evaluation suggests increased cardiac risk or if the antipsychotic to be prescribed has been established to have an increased risk of TDP and sudden death.

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