Atypical antipsychotics: new drugs, new challenges.

Compared with the first-generation, or "typical" antipsychotic drugs, second-generation or atypical antipsychotics cause fewer extrapyramidal (motor) problems, but they pose new challenges, as they often contribute to metabolic disturbances such as weight gain, hyperlipidemia, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Patients taking atypical antipsychotics should be monitored for glycemic and cardiovascular risk factors and should receive treatment for such problems as they arise.