Clozaril (clozapine) caused weight gain of over 100 lbs in a pair of female twins

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Thursday, March 03, 2005 5:57 am Email this article
The antipsychotic drug Clozaril (clozapine) caused a pair of female twins to gain over 100 pounds in 5.5 years according to a report out of Germany. Weight gain of 106 lbs and 117 lbs

One twin gained 106 pounds finally reaching a weight of 221 pounds and a body mass index (BMI) of 33.8, while the other gained 117 pounds to reach a weight of 237 pounds and a BMI of 38.1.

Schizophrenia and mild mental retardation

The female twins both had schizophrenia and mild mental retardation.

Conclusion: Genes may influence antipsychotic-induced weight gain

“Because both patients experienced considerable weight gain during treatment, our observation suggests that the antipsychotic-induced weight gain is under strong genetic control,” the authors of the paper concluded.

REFERENCE

Wehmeier P, Gebhardt S, Schmidtke J, Remschmidt H, Hebebrand J, Theisen F. Clozapine: weight gain in a pair of monozygotic twins concordant for schizophrenia and mild mental retardation. Psychiatry Res. 2005 Feb 28, 133(2-3):273-76.

AUTHOR’S CONTACT INFORMATION

Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
Philipps-University
Hans-Sachs-Str. 4-8
35033 Marburg, Germany

Articles on the same subject can be found here:

• Antipsychotic drugs

• Clozaril (clozapine)