LONDON (Agence de Presse Medicale for Reuters Health) - The use of antidepressants for treating bulimia nervosa was backed on Wednesday by Britain’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
Publishing guidance on eating disorders, it said patients should be informed that anti-depressant drugs could reduce the frequency of binge-eating and purging - though the long term effects were unknown.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, specifically fluoxetine, were the drugs of first choice and could be prescribed to adults in addition to cognitive behaviour therapy or other psychological treatments.
NICE said 1 in 250 females and 1 in 2000 males in the UK experience anorexia in adolescence or young adulthood and about five times that number suffer from bulimia.
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