Will schizophrenia medication reduce lifespan for years?

[SzAdmin]

@gohweipeng

the average lifespan of a schizophrenic is shorted up to 10 to 25 years. Is this real?

This is true - for a number of reasons. cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, poor diet, and frequently doctors don’t check for issues like diabetes and heart disease, etc as quickly as they should in people who have schizophrenia.

There are many reasons - many that you have some control over.

Here is a past discussion on this topic:

Life Expectancy

Life expectancy among those diagnosed with schizophrenia and even bipolar is shorter than the average. I wonder why? I say its the antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, minor tranquilizers that are doing a lot of physical damage. Cardiac issues, Cancer, Liver disease. Kidney disease. Diabetes all are factors - I am all for psychiatric medications, but man as I am getting older - my physical health has been affected. Our life expectancy is about 12 to 15 years shorter than the average - I say its got to be the meds. Wish they would make safer more effective meds - I have got to talk to my pdoc about what my medication options are - Diabetes is taking its toll on my physical health. A new …

also - some hope that some cheap inexpensive medications may help turn this around:

Metformin - the Anti-diabetic drug slows aging and lengthens lifespan, animal study suggests

More good news on Metformin - the medication that has been identified as a good medication to help people with schizophrenia avoid weight gain:

and another conversation:

Do we die 20 years early?

I read somewhere the life expectancy for someone who has sz is 20 years lower. Is this true? Am trying to give up smoking but if the above is the case I don’t think I will bother.

and how researchers are focused on this issue:

Huge life expectancy gap and physical health inequalities in young people with psychosis addressed in declaration from Tokyo conference

Huge life expectancy gap and physical health inequalities in young people with psychosis addressed in declaration from Tokyo conference Sydney Austrailia - To address the life expectancy gap and physical health inequalities experienced by young people with psychosis, global experts are announcing the Healthy Active Lives (HeAL) declaration at this year’s International Early Psychosis Conference in Tokyo, Japan. The international initiative is led by Dr David Shiers, retired GP and Advisor to the National Audit of Schizophrenia, UK and Dr Jackie Curtis, University of New South Wales, and South Eastern Sydney Local Health District (SESLHD) Sydney, NSW, Australia. Compared to people of the sa…