Sparse Data on Eating Disorders Prompt Call for Research

Virtually no evidence exists to suggest that CBT is better than other forms of psychotherapy. There was no evidence on whether the interventions improved quality of life.

Fluoxetine is already Food and Drug Administration-approved at 60 mg per day for the treatment of bulimia nervosa, based on 6- to 18-week trials showing that it reduced binge eating, purging, and associated psychological features, even though the results were “pretty weak because of the high dropout rates,” said Dr. Russell Marx, medical director of the eating disorders program at the University Medical Center at Princeton (N.J.).

Dialectical behavior therapy has shown preliminary evidence of being effective for bulimia.

In binge eating disorder, short-term trials of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have reduced the severity of illness as well as eating, psychiatric, and weight symptoms, compared with placebo.