Olanzapine May Help Adults With Anorexia Gain Weight

Many patients who take the antipsychotic olanzapine for psychiatric disorders are known to experience significant weight gain. Astudy in AJP in Advance now suggests that olanzapine may be able to help adults with anorexia gain some weight, but it does not appear to reduce psychological symptoms associated with the disorder.“We found a weight gain effect associated with olanzapine, but it was more modest than the significant, usually undesirable, weight gain seen when olanzapine is used to treat other disorders,” Evelyn Attia, M.D., of Columbia University Irving Medical Center and colleagues wrote. The findings are “notable, as achieving change in weight is notoriously challenging in this disorder,” they added.For the study, which was carried out at five North American sites, Attia and colleagues randomly assigned 152 adults aged 18 to 65 with anorexia (96% women; mean body mass index [BMI]: 16.7) to olanzapine or placebo for 16 weeks. Patients were excluded from the trial if they had a general medical or psychiatric condition that required immediate attention; a current diagnosis of substance abuse or dependence, schizophrenia, schizophreniform disorder, or bipolar illness; a neurological problem; or an allergy to olanzapine or a documented failure to respond to or inability to tolerate olanzapine at 10 mg/day. Medication was initiated at 2.5 mg/day for two weeks, then increased to 5 mg/day for two weeks, and up to 10 mg/day for the rest of the trial.All particip...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: ajp in advance anorexia antipsychotic Evelyn Attia olanzapine weight gain Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Source Type: research