Antipsychotic drugs are very useful in the treatment of mental illness. These drugs cause emotional quietening, indifference to surroundings and sedation. They reduce the agitation and disturbed behaviour often associated with delusions and hallucinations in the psychotic patients.
The World Health Organization maintains the database on adverse drug reactions for international drug monitoring. The organization has examined the relationship between antipsychotic drugs and heart disorders. In a recent study one of the antipsychotic drugs - clozapine has been reported to cause heart muscle problems like myocarditis or cardiomyopathy. It may be a cause of unexplained deaths in the psychotic patients.
Myocarditis and cardiomyopathy were reported rarely as adverse drug reactions, accounting for less than 0.1% (2121) of almost 2.5 million reports.
The various studies do not explain the possible cause of the association between these drugs and heart problems. Further study is needed to determine if antipsychotics other than clozapine cause myocarditis or cardiomyopathy. People associated with psychotic patients should be aware of the fact and be careful to avoid any adverse situations.
BMJ; May 2001, vol 322(7296)
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