Einstein (São Paulo) (Mar 2006)
Assessment and treatment of binge eating in obese patients
Abstract
Binge eating is a frequent disorder among obese patient, specialythose undergoing weight loss treatment. Binge eating disorder(BED) is a newly defined diagnostic category, usually associatedwith psychopathology and overweight. Several clinical trialsinvolving psychoterapeutical interventions have shown thatcognitive beahavior therapy and interpersonal therapy can beeffective for the treatment of obese patients with BED.Pharmacotherapy can be also an useful tool for the control ofbinge eating, as part of a multidimensional therapeutic approach,associated to psychotherapy and eating behavior modification.Although the investigation of pharmacological agents for thetreatment of BED is still in its preliminary stages, somemedications have shown promising results in randomized clinicaltrials. Currently, three main classes of drugs have been evaluatedin randomized controlled trials: antidepressants, anti-obesityagents and anticonvulsants. The most studied drugs were theserotonina selective reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Fluoxetine,fluvoxamine, sertralina and citalopram have been shown to causemodest, but significant reduction in the frequency of bingeepisodes and body weight over the short term of the trials. Morerecently, sibutramina and topiramate have been shown tosignificantly reduce the binge eating behavior and the body weightin patients with obesity and binge eating.
