Paper I — 2024 March (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) — Q3

Paper I

2024 March (Supplementary) (2010 Scheme) · 40 marks · 120 min

Question

Name two Atypical antipsychotics. What are the advantages of Atypical antipsychotics over Typical antipsychotics

Q33 marksShort Notes★✓

Answer

Two atypical antipsychotics: Olanzapine, Risperidone.

Advantages of atypicals over typicals:

• Substantially lower risk of extrapyramidal symptoms and tardive dyskinesia (due to faster D2 receptor dissociation and combined serotonin-dopamine antagonism, rather than dopamine blockade alone).
• Greater efficacy against negative symptoms of schizophrenia (apathy, social withdrawal, blunted affect), which typicals control poorly.
• Lower risk of hyperprolactinemia (with most atypicals, though risperidone is a notable exception).

This is a genuine trade-off, not an unqualified advantage: atypicals carry a correspondingly greater burden of metabolic adverse effects (weight gain, dyslipidemia, new-onset diabetes), most pronounced with olanzapine and clozapine.

Related Concepts

1. 1Antipsychotic and Antimanic Drugs

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