Bulimia nervosa and alcohol dependence - A case report of a patient enrolled in a randomized controlled clinical trial

Bulimia nervosa and alcohol use disorders frequently co-occur. A review of the literature, however, reveals a paucity of information on treatment of p atients with these comorbid conditions. We present a case report of a 34-ye ar-old Caucasian female with a 20-year history of bulimia nervosa with co-o ccurring alcohol dependence, who participated in a randomized placebo-contr olled medication augmentation trial for bulimia nervosa. The patient sewed as a pilot subject who met the exclusionary criterion of alcohol dependence , but received all the assessment and intervention procedures of the clinic al trial for bulimia nervosa. Despite double-blind random assignment to a p lacebo condition, the patient's symptoms of bulimia nervosa substantially i mproved over the course of the 5-week efficacy trial. We hypothesize that t his improvement was due to concurrent abstinence from alcohol rather than a placebo effect. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.