FLUOXETINE - A SPECTRUM OF CLINICAL-APPLICATIONS AND POSTULATES OF UNDERLYING MECHANISMS

The antidepressant efficacy of fluoxetine in major depression has been briefly reviewed. A brief outline of dose selection, therapeutic onse t, and pharmacokinetics of fluoxetine were made. The potential use of the drug in management of various psychiatric conditions has been exam ined. These include obsessive-compulsive disorder and related variance s, anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, Tourette's syndrome, and trichot illomania. The suggested use of fluoxetine in pain relief in certain d iabetics, premenstrual syndrome, and migraine headache were assessed. The reports on the use of fluoxetine in panic disorders, paraphilias, and related conditions and in the management of substance abuse, alcoh olism, and cocaine abuse, were summarized, and elaborated upon. A comp osite of preliminary reports cited in literature pertinent to the pote ntial of fluoxetine in treatment of abusing injurious behavior, dysthy mic disorder, fibrositis, postanoxic-action myoclonus, pathologic jeal ously, personality disorder, pseudobulbar affect, and social phobia we re also reviewed. Fluoxetine pharmacological profile may be extended t o cover a relative wide range of application, provided future controll ed studies confirm the preliminary data found in the literature.