STUDY:PROZAC DOES NOT DECREASE RISK OF ANOREXIA RELAPSE

Eli Lilly's antidepressant Prozac does not lower risk of relapse or help anorexia nervosa patients who have restored their body weight maintain it, according to a study published in the June 14 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers from Columbia University and the University of Toronto said the study "failed to demonstrate any benefit from fluoxetine in the treatment of patients with anorexia nervosa following weight restoration." Approximately 60 percent of anorexia patients that sought treatment said they have been treated with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors such as Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft, researchers said.

The study found that 26.5 percent of patients on fluoxetine maintained regained body weight, compared with 31.5 percent of those on placebo. There was even less of a difference in regard to relapse rates. After one year, 43 percent of patients on fluoxetine had not relapsed, compared with 43 percent of patients on placebo.

Sales of Prozac totaled $453 million in 2005. The study can be found at http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/295/22/2605 (http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/295/22/2605).