Medical illness and schizophrenia - Jonathan M Meyer|Henry A Nasrallah

Lifestyle choices, effects of medications, poor self-care, and barriers to treatment of physical illness often compromise the health of patients with schizophrenia - increasing the severity of their psychopathology, reducing quality of life, and leading to premature death. This text seeks to reflect a growing awareness of the importance of providing better medical assessment and treatment to improve outcomes. Since community health centres are most often the focus for care - and psychiatrists are often the "de facto" primary care providers -the volume underscores the need to improve public health services for this underserved population.;The work brings together research and practical recommendations on medical issues related to schizophrenia and antipsychotic medications. Chapters cover excessive morbidity and mortality in schizophrenic patients caused by obesity, glucose intolerance and diabetes, cardiovascular illness and hyperlipidemia, nicotine and tobacco use, HIV and hepatitis C, substance use disorders, neurological comorbidity, prolactin and endocrine-related disorders, and factors related to ageing.