How antipsychotic medications cause metabolic side effects such as obesity and diabetes
In 2008, roughly 14.3 million Americans were taking antipsychoticstypically prescribed for bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or a number of other behavioral disordersmaking them among the most prescribed drugs in the U.S. Almost all of these medications are known to cause the metabolic side effects of obesity and diabetes, leaving patients with a difficult choice between improving their mental health and damaging their physical health. In a paper published January 31 in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, researchers at Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute (Sanford-Burnham) reveal how antipsychotic drugs interfere with normal metabolism by activating a protein called SMAD3, an important part of the transforming growth factor beta (TGFbeta) pathway.