Clinical Psychiatry News - Bupropion may aid weight loss
WASHINGTON — Bupropion SR is an effective antidepressant that also may aid weight loss, investigators said at the annual scientific assembly of the Southern Medical Association.
Obese patients taking bupropion SR (Wellbutrin) lost significantly more weight than obese patients taking a placebo, in a randomized double-blind trial of 422 participants, Dr. Paul S. Bradley of Candler Medical Group, Savannah, Ga., reported in a poster presentation.
Roughly half of the patients received 300-400 mg/day bupropion SR, while the other half received placebo. Both groups observed a 500 kcal/day-deficit diet.
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While all patients had depressive symptoms–defined as a score of 10-30 on the Beck Depression Inventory–the study focused on 92 patients reporting a past history of major depression. Of these patients, 50 were in the bupropion SR group and 42 were in the placebo group. Of those in the bupropion group, 52% lost at least 5% of their body weight during the 26-week study, compared with 15% of the placebo group. “The changes in weight were significant for the overall population as well.”
But bupropion was effective in reducing depression symptoms only in patients with a history of major depression. Among the 92 patients with major depression, 52% of those taking bupropion SR achieved a depression index score reduction of 50%, compared with 28% of those taking a placebo. In contrast, scores for the overall study population did not change significantly.
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