Health Improving Measures for Patients Suffering from Psychosis: Development of Treatment Methods and an Intervention Program‪.‬

Introduction There is increased physical ill-health in the population in general and especially in persons with severe mental illness. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome, which is an accumulation of risk factors including increased abdominal fat, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and hyperglycaemia, is much higher in people with schizophrenia than in general population (1). There is evidence that second-generation antipsychotic drugs are linked to metabolic side effects including obesity, hyperlipidaemia and diabetes mellitus type 2 (2). Lifestyle factors also contribute to further development of the metabolic syndrome (3).