Biomaterial Database

Femoxetine in the treatment of obese patients in general practice. A randomized group comparative study with placebo. 1987

M Bitsch, and B K Skrumsager

A study was carried out in general practice to compare the effectiveness of femoxetine, a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, with the effect of placebo in helper patients more than 20 per cent above their ideal weight to lose weight. Patients were allocated at random to receive either 600 mg femoxetine (36 patients) or placebo (37 patients) daily over a period of 16 weeks. They were also asked to restrict their calorie intake to 1200-1600 kcal. (5.0-6.7 MJ)/day. The results showed that there was no statistically significant greater weight loss in patients treated with femoxetine (median = 8.3 kg) than with placebo (median = 6.2 kg) after 16 weeks. In subgroups of patients with obesity problems for more than 20 years and of patients previously in anorectic treatment, femoxetine tended towards causing a larger weight loss. Side-effects were generally minor in nature, and the incidence and nature of them were almost comparable in the two groups except for gastro-intestinal symptoms, which were reported more often in the femoxetine group. As femoxetine in several randomized group comparative studies in depressive illness has been shown to have an antidepressant efficacy which is comparable with the efficacy amitriptyline and imipramine, femoxetine may be particularly useful in the management of obese patients requiring antidepressant treatment.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D008875	Middle Aged	An adult aged 45 - 64 years.	Middle Age
D009765	Obesity	A status with BODY WEIGHT that is grossly above the recommended standards, usually due to accumulation of excess FATS in the body. The standards may vary with age, sex, genetic or cultural background. In the BODY MASS INDEX, a BMI greater than 30.0 kg/m2 is considered obese, and a BMI greater than 40.0 kg/m2 is considered morbidly obese (MORBID OBESITY).
D010880	Piperidines	A family of hexahydropyridines.
D011897	Random Allocation	A process involving chance used in therapeutic trials or other research endeavor for allocating experimental subjects, human or animal, between treatment and control groups, or among treatment groups. It may also apply to experiments on inanimate objects.	Randomization,Allocation, Random
D001835	Body Weight	The mass or quantity of heaviness of an individual. It is expressed by units of pounds or kilograms.	Body Weights,Weight, Body,Weights, Body
D002986	Clinical Trials as Topic	Works about pre-planned studies of the safety, efficacy, or optimum dosage schedule (if appropriate) of one or more diagnostic, therapeutic, or prophylactic drugs, devices, or techniques selected according to predetermined criteria of eligibility and observed for predefined evidence of favorable and unfavorable effects. This concept includes clinical trials conducted both in the U.S. and in other countries.	Clinical Trial as Topic
D004038	Diet, Reducing	A diet designed to cause an individual to lose weight.	Weight Loss Diet,Weight Reduction Diet,Diet, Weight Loss,Diet, Weight Reduction,Diets, Reducing,Diets, Weight Loss,Diets, Weight Reduction,Reducing Diet,Reducing Diets,Weight Loss Diets,Weight Reduction Diets
D004311	Double-Blind Method	A method of studying a drug or procedure in which both the subjects and investigators are kept unaware of who is actually getting which specific treatment.	Double-Masked Study,Double-Blind Study,Double-Masked Method,Double Blind Method,Double Blind Study,Double Masked Method,Double Masked Study,Double-Blind Methods,Double-Blind Studies,Double-Masked Methods,Double-Masked Studies,Method, Double-Blind,Method, Double-Masked,Methods, Double-Blind,Methods, Double-Masked,Studies, Double-Blind,Studies, Double-Masked,Study, Double-Blind,Study, Double-Masked
D005260	Female		Females