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IS PROZAC EFFECTIVE IN TREATING EATING DISORDERS SUCH AS BULIMIA?
23 March 2009
by
admin
Filed under
Anti Depressants-Sleeping Aid
Bulimia nervosa, with its terrible pattern of compulsive eating binges, self-induced vomiting, laxative and diuretic abuse, and anything else its sufferers can think of to control their weight, affects between 1.3% and 10.1% of American women. Although older antidepressants, especially the MAOIs, have been shown to help, side effects frequently have presented problems, in part because they often include weight gain, which bulimics fear to an alarming degree. Prozac does not usually have that unwanted effect. In an eight-week test involving close to four hundred women who daily were randomly given 20 mg of Prozac, 60 mg of Prozac, or a placebo, the medication reduced eating binges in up to 63% of the responders and episodes of vomiting in up to 57%. In this study, the larger dose proved more effective than the smaller dose.
In April 1994, the FDA approved Prozac’s use for bulimia. Behavioral therapy combined with medication treats bulimia the most effectively.
Is Prozac useful with any other disorders? Preliminary studies of a small number of patients diagnosed with borderline personality disorder and schizophrenia have reported definite improvement with Prozac. Although much research still needs to be done. For instance, in a ten-week study of eight treatment-resistant chronic schizophrenics, every one snowed improvement with Prozac. They became less aggressive, more socially interactive, and more involved in hospital programs. One of them was even discharged.
Substance abuse—whether it is alcohol, cocaine, or other addictive drugs—is most effectively treated – with Alcoholics Anonymous, self-help groups, and group therapies. Patients with depressive symptoms should be evaluated for concomitant use of antidepressants.
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