Effects Of Antidepressant Drugs On Patient Suffering

From Anorexia
KEYWORDS : Anorexia nervosa, Anorexia bulimia, eating disorder, management,
medications, psychotherapy, antidepressant drugs, depression, psychological
disorder.
Background:

Anorexia Nervosa (An) is an disorder which is caused due to eating disorder to an extreme
point. It is caused due to various reasons such as excessive weight loss, self- starvation, body
image negativity, fear of being fat which leads to the harming of patient's physical and mental
health. This eating disorder is caused by a pattern of eating behavior that is constantly
disrupted in order to lose weight. 1 Anorexia Bulimia (BN) is characterized by repeated
episodes of binge eating combined with some kind of compensatory activity that is
inappropriate. 2 It is one of the disease which is difficult to manage and treat, and may result
in a high mortality rate and recurrent relapses. It has primarily been observed in girls and
women over the age of 15 years. Females have a lifetime prevalence of up to 2-4%, while
males have a prevalence of 0.3 percent. The severity of AN in adults is determined by their
current BMI status: A BMI of 17 kg/m2 indicates mild severity; a BMI of 16.00 to 16.99
kg/m2 indicates moderate severity. Anorexia patients have been shown to have depressive
problems, severe depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, among various psychological
diseases as co-morbid conditions. According to studies, AN has the highest death rate of any
mental condition at 5% per decade. Suicide attempts are frequent in AN, with rates ranging
from 3% to 29.7%, and AN patients die at a rate of 27%. 3,4
There is no FDA-approved medication for AN because it is a complex condition with few
treatment choices with reported effectiveness and a high risk of relapse. Treatment plans of
AN should me made according to the individuals. They are
(1) weight restoration
(2) normalizing dietary habits and supplementing the diet with required foods
(3) treating malnutrition due to biological and psychological complications
(4) Comorbid symptoms, such as anxiety problems, are managed, and
(5) weight control and illness relapse are avoided.
Malnutrition can cause symptoms such as depression and anxiety, and moderate symptoms
can be alleviated by restoring weight and balancing nutrition in the diet. Psychological
therapy is the keystone of anorexia treatment and can be used as the first line of defense
for adult anorexic patients. Antidepressants may help with stress, anxiety, and the
obsessive-compulsive habits that are common in AN. Antidepressants should be
investigated clinically in anorexic patients because of their pharmacologic impact on the
serotonin (5-HT) neurotransmitter pathway, which is known to be dysfunctional in anorexic
patients. 2
The primary goal of this systematic study is to summarize new evidence and the effects of
antidepressant medications such as SSRIs and atypical antidepressant drugs in the treatment
of anorexic patients during the acute and maintenance phases of treatment. Both fluoxetine
and cognitive behaviour therapy have been shown to be effective in the treatment of bulimia
nervosa. The latest recommendation, however, does not prescribe this.
1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6007635/
2. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2927890/
3. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/1107207
4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22644309/