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Antipsychotic Drugs May Cause Blood Clots People who take antipsychotic drugs, even those who are young and otherwise healthy, face an increased risk for potentially fatal blood clots, researchers report, extending previous findings to encompass a wider range of medications for schizophrenia, manic-depressive disorder, dementia, autism, and other brain disorders. Researchers looked at nearly 30,000 patients on antipsychotic drugs over the course of 7 years. Patients younger than 60 who had no risk factors for blood clots, such as heart disease or diabetes. They found that these patients were 7 times more likely to develop blood clots known as venous thromboembolisms than drug-free study participants. The risk was greatest during patients' first 3 months on the drugs. Lead researcher Dr. Gwen L. Zornberg of Boston University School of Medicine in Lexington, Massachusetts, said in an interview with Reuters Health, that doctors have been noting for decades that antipsychotic drugs seem to trigger blood clots in some patients. "What's fascinating," she said, "is that this was very well-studied from the 1960s until 1984...then for some reason it just fell through the cracks." Research on the link between the drugs and blood clots has been hindered by the fact that study patients have often had other risk factors for venous thromboembolism. To avoid this problem, Zornberg's team focused on patients younger than 60 who had no risk factors for blood clots, such as heart disease or diabetes. Dr. Zornberg notes that these clots might be prevented by something as simple as exercise or some type of physical activity. She also notes that, despite accumulating evidence, blood clots are not listed as a potential side effect of antipsychotic drugs. The Lancet October 7, 2000;356:1219-1223. DR. MERCOLA'S COMMENT: Although these medications are not used very commonly, these potentially life threatening complications represent another failure of the traditional drug paradigm in treating chronic illness. There are far better options in most of these cases. One can investigate the use of orthomolecular medicine to help with this condition. Dr. Abram Hoffer has done quite a bit of pioneering efforts in this area. From Dr. Mercola's newsletter:http://mercola.com