The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7406 p742
24 June 2006

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Fluoxetine offers no benefit to anorexic patients

People with anorexia nervosa who take fluoxetine are no less likely to have a relapse of their condition than those given placebo, a recent study has shown (JAMA 2006;295:2605).

Because, according to the authors, the poor efficacy of drug treatment for anorexia might be due to the effects of starvation, investigators randomised 93 patients to begin treatment with fluoxetine or placebo after having regained weight.

However, the percentage of patients who completed the one-year study and maintained a body mass index of at least 18.5 was found to be similar between the two groups (fluoxetine 26.5 per cent versus placebo 31.5 per cent; P=0.57). The authors also found no significant difference in time to relapse for patients on fluoxetine compared with those on placebo (hazard ratio 1.12, 95 per cent confidence interval 0.65–2.01; P=0.64).