title: Overview of managing medical comorbidities in patients with severe mental illness.
abstract: Patients with severe mental disorders have increased mortality rates compared with the general population. The leading cause of death for individuals with psychotic illnesses or bipolar disorder is cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is often the result of patients' health problems associated with their psychiatric disorders, including, but not limited to, obesity, metabolic syndrome, and diabetes. Such problems occur more often and have worse outcomes in patients with serious mental illness than the general population because of a combination of factors such as inadequate access to quality care, poor lifestyle choices, and the association between some antipsychotic medications and weight gain. Coordinated somatic and psychiatric treatment, weight-neutral or weight-reducing pharmaceuticals, and behavioral weight management programs may help lessen the burden of CVD in the mental health population.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Toronto, and the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
authors: Roger S
authors: RS
authors: McIntyre
mesh_terms: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001521:Behavior Therapy; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy; D010348:Patient Care Team; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000628:therapy*; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D014150:Antipsychotic Agents