Life-Threatening Effects of Antipsychotic Drugs

This book is an essential reference text for psychiatrists, pathologists and any physician treating a psychiatric patient with a life-threatening condition. It would also be useful to primary care physicians with patients taking antipsychotic medication.
Life-Threatening Effects of Antipsychotic Drugs describes in detail more than 20 life-threatening effects associated with antipsychotics, presents the best available data on their incidence and case fatality, and gives comprehensive advice on diagnosis, management and preventive strategies. In addition, the book discusses the benefit of antipsychotic medication in a range of therapeutic indications, and demonstrates the gain in life-expectancy associated with clozapine use in severe mental illness despite its serious, potentially life-threatening adverse effects.

• Covers cardiovascular, neurological, muscular, haematological, gastrointestinal, autonomic and metabolic effects
• Gives advice on risk factors, confounding diagnoses and measures to minimise seriousness
• Discusses clozapine rechallenge after each of its serious adverse reactions
• Makes suggestions for optimum management of somatic disease in those with severe mental illness, to improve life-expectancy
• Includes data on post-mortem considerations