drug therapy for AN Flashcards
what is drug therapy?
most widely used are the SSRI’s (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors)
- because people with AN are often sad and obsessional, it is logical to hope that SSRIs might help.
- however, malnutrition is a side effect of SSRIs
the action of these drugs focus on the interaction of dopamine and serotonin and often increase appetite and weight gain
what is a weakness of drug therapy?
NICE states that drugs should not be used as a primary treatment for AN and there is very little evidence that states that drugs are a useful treatment
- anorexia antipsychotic drugs are not particularly useful in the weight recovery, but are used to reduce other symptoms present in AN such as fear of gaining weight
what is a weakness that there is little evidence?
very little evidence exists that suggests drugs are an effective treatment for AN
- ferguson et al. (1999) did a comparison between 24 patients taking SSRIs and 16 patients treated on the same ward who were taking SSRIs.
- they found that there was no significant difference between then in terms of age or body weight but most importantly there was no difference in terms of their clinical smptoms or reports of anxiety.
what was the competing argument of the weakness that there is little evidence?
kaye et al (2001) published evidence that in a double blind study comparing outcomes for patients given fluoxetine with patients given a placebo
- those on fluoxitine were much more likely to stay on the medication up to a year into their outpatient treatment
what is a strength of this explanation?
jensen and mejlhede (2000) reported case studies on three patients wh owere treated with 5 mg of olanzapine each day
- in each case positive effects were reported in relation to the patient’s body image and they make suggestions for further study into the usefulness of the drug in treating AN
