This retrospective study evaluated the clinical effectiveness and safety of Dachai Wendan Decoction (DWD) in combination with standard Western Medicine (WM) for the management of metabolic syndrome (MetS) induced by atypical antipsychotic medications. A total of 107 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia according to the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, and fulfilling the International Diabetes Federation criteria for MetS, were included between January 2020 and December 2024. Patients were allocated to either the WM group (n = 56) or the integrative medicine group receiving DWD in addition to WM (DWD + WM, n = 51). After 8 weeks of treatment, the remission rate of MetS was significantly higher in the DWD + WM group (47.1%) compared with the WM group (25.0%, P = .02). The DWD + WM group demonstrated greater reductions in body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and blood pressure. Improvements in lipid metabolism were also more pronounced, with greater decreases in triglycerides, total cholesterol, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, alongside an increase in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Glycemic control, reflected by fasting plasma glucose and glycated hemoglobin, also improved significantly. Psychiatric symptoms remained stable in both groups, with no dosage adjustments of antipsychotics required. Both treatments were well tolerated, and the incidence of adverse events was low and comparable. These findings indicate that adjunctive therapy with DWD is a safe and effective strategy to improve metabolic outcomes in patients with antipsychotic-induced MetS.
Wu et al. (Fri,) studied this question.