For the double-blind study, researchers from the University of North Carolina "recruited 119 young people, ages eight to 19, who suffer from psychotic symptoms." The participants "received either Zyprexa (olanzapine), Risperdal (risperidone), or molindone," an older antipsychotic.

The investigators found that, "after eight weeks, 34 percent of the children taking Zyprexa, 46 percent of those on Risperdal, and 50 percent of those receiving molindone showed significant improvement." By then, however, many in the Risperdal and Zyprexa groups "had gained a lot of weight," and also "showed changes in cholesterol and insulin levels that are risk factors for diabetes." Children taking molindone, however, "gained less than a pound, on average, and had little metabolic changes."

"Prescription rates for...atypical anti-psychotics have increased more than fivefold for children over the past decades, and doctors now use them to settle outbursts and aggression in children with a wide variety of diagnoses, despite serious side effects," the Chicago Tribune (9/15) adds.

Related links:

- "Risks Found for Youths in New Antipsychotics," Benedict Carey, New York Times, September 15, 2008.
- "New anti-psychotics a bigger risk to kids," Chicago Tribune, September 15, 2008.