Researchers from the University of Chicago report that a recent study done on mice showed improvement in their survival when given low doses of an antipsychotic drug. The results of the study show promise for anorexia nervosa sufferers which is a common eating disorder.
It can sometimes be fatal but the disorder lacks any approved drugs for treatment, according to a recent article. Mice that were treated with the drug olanzapine were able to maintain their weight when they exercised and had limited access to food.
Both are conditions that produce ABA, or activity-based anorexia in animals. Graduate Student, Stephanie Klenotich said the results showed continual improvement in all conditions with adolescents and adult mice and consistently worked to maintain weight in mice.
The study proved to be a rare collaboration among clinicians and laboratory scientists that were searching for new treatments for anorexia nervosa. One percent of all American women will suffer from this condition in their lifetime but just one third will seek treatment.
Sufferers of anorexia are often given an off label brand of drugs that are prescribed for other kinds of psychiatric conditions. Few studies have been done using animal models to test the drugs’ usefulness.
Assistant professor at the University of Chicago, Stephanie Dulawa says anorexia is the most deadly of all psychiatric disorders and there are no approved treatments with medicine yet. Dulawa wonders why more hasn’t been done to discover treatments for the disorder.
Co-authors add that one of their challenges has been finding a medication that their patients with anorexia will agree to take on a regular basis since they are usually reluctant and skeptical to try any medicine that will change their mind about eating.