Fluoxetine can be used for weight loss, according to a postulation that has emerged in recent years. It is a drug that can cause considerable weight loss when consumed regularly.
This postulation has created considerable controversy when it comes to delineating the specific effects of fluoxetine and the proper use of this drug.
Given the new"fashion"that has uncovered the effects on the weight of fluoxetine, many people believe that this medication is a useful drug for weight loss.
Leaving aside the usefulness of this drug to lose weight, first of all we have to take into account what is and for what is made Fluoxetine .
To begin with, it should be made clear that fluoxetine is not a drug that has been designed for weight loss or used for such purposes.
Thus, fluoxetine, also known as prozac, is a Antidepressant drug , So it is designed to treat mood disorders.
More specifically, this psychoactive drug consists of an antidepressant of the class Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) .
This antidepressant was designed in 1974 and has been used since 1987, making it one of the oldest psychoactive drugs currently used.
What is fluoxetine used for?
Fluoextine is one of the most commonly used psychotropic drugs and is mainly used to treat depressive disorders of an acute nature, ie to treat depression and related disorders.
It is also an effective medicine for treating other mental disorders such as nervous bulimics, Obsessive-compulsive disorders Or some Bipolar disorder .
On the other hand, fluoxetine may be used occasionally to treat alcoholism , Attention deficit disorder , Certain sleep disorders (Especially those associated with narcolepsy), Migraines , Posttraumatic stress disorder , Tourette syndrome , Trichotillomania , obesity And some sexual alterations.
Thus, fluoxetine is essentially a psychoactive drug that allows changes in the mechanisms of the brain that control the state of mind And is designed to intervene psychopathological alterations, especially those that have affective components such as the Depression .
With this brief approach to this psychoactive drug, we clearly see that fluoxetine is not a drug that is used for weight loss because it is not designed, made, designed and marketed for such purposes.
However, this fact does not remove that this drug can not have effects in the regulation of the corporal weight and can be effective to lose weight.
To be able to leave doubts and analyze more clearly the efficacy and convenience of this drug for such purposes, we need to go deeper into all the effects that fluoxetine makes on the body and, more specifically, how it modulates weight loss .
How does fluoxetine work in the body?
Fluoxetine, like all medicines, is consumed for the purpose of making changes in the functioning of the body.
Thus, the chemical properties of this drug are ingested so that when they access the body can make changes in endogenous chemical processes and achieve a series of effects that make up for the deficiencies or deviations of the body.
In addition, it must be taken into account that fluoxetine is a psychoactive drug, so the effects that are pursued with the consumption of this drug are made in brain .
Thus, fluoxetine makes changes mainly in brain functioning, with the aim of making the relevant chemical changes that succeed in restoring an optimal functioning of the mental regions.
So let's see how this psychoactive drug is consumed and what effects it makes when it accesses the brain of people.
What Brain Modifications Do You Do?
Fluoxetine is given orally and is absorbed through the digestive tract.
Although the body often absorbs this drug very easily, the presence of food in the stomach slows its absorption. However, it does not make changes in the extent of the substance, it simply delays the appearance of its effects, ie, the drug takes longer to reach the brain.
Once absorbed, fluoxetine is metabolized by the liver, binds to plasma proteins, is distributed through the blood and reaches the brain easily overcoming the Blood brain barrier .
When it reaches the brain, fluoxetine begins to make a number of changes in brain function.
As previously discussed, fluoxetine is an antidepressant belonging to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
This means that when entering the brain, the main action is to inhibit the reuptake of serotonin.
What is serotonin?
The Serotonin Is a specific substance of the brain that is responsible for performing a large number of brain actions.
Like serotonin, there are many more substances distributed throughout the brain regions, and each one performs certain actions.
These substances perform their actions as they travel from one neuron to another, that is, distributing themselves through different regions of the brain.
This transit of substances between the different neurons of the brain is performed by receivers, which are responsible for transporting the substances from one neuron to another.
When the substance is transported through the receptors, they enter the neurons through the mechanism of reuptake.
What effects does fluoxetine have on this substance?
The action performed by fluoxetine is to inhibit the reuptake of serotonin, so when this substance is transported to a neuron, it can not enter the cell interior as fluoxetine prevents it.
This results in serotonin being transported equally but not entering the interior of the neuron, so that it stays longer in the intersynaptic space, ie in the space between neurons.
Thus, as the brain continues to carry serotonin from one neuron to another, these substances accumulate in the space between neurons, so they perform greater neuronal stimulation.
Now, what mental processes regulates serotonin and what happens when fluoxetine increases the activity of these substances?
Well, serotonin is a very important inhibitory substance in the brain that performs a large number of brain activities, but the main ones are:
- Produces Melatonin And regulates sleep.
- Regulates hunger by satiety.
- It balances the sexual desire.
- Control body temperature.
- It controls feelings of well-being.
- They control the ability to concentrate.
- Regulates aggressiveness .
- It regulates the relaxation state of the body.
- It regulates the mood.
As we see, serotonin regulates several aspects related to mood, which is why fluoxetine, by inhibiting the reuptake of this substance, is a suitable psychoactive drug to treat depression and other affective disorders.
However, we also see how serotonin regulates hunger, a fact that would indicate that it could be effective in increasing the sensation of satiety and help in the thinning processes.
Fluoxetine for depression
Now that we have seen the effects of fluoxetine on brain functioning, we can begin to detect if this drug is really suitable for weight loss or not.
However, as discussed above, weight problems or weight loss interventions are not one of the treatments for which fluoxetine is indicated.
Therefore, before focusing on the effect of this drug on hunger and weight loss, we will review the effect of fluoxetine to treat those disorders that are indicated: depression.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor antidepressants were started to treat depression based on a very relevant scientific discovery.
Thus, it has been shown how, in many cases of depression, mood disturbance is directly related to low levels of serotonin in the brain.
Why is fluoxetine effective for depression?
People with depression often have deficits in the production of this substance, so the individual does not experience the main effect that serotonin does in relation to mood.
Serotonin (which is even known as the happiness hormone) produces feelings of wellness , Satisfaction, optimism and gratification, so having low levels of this substance may develop depressive episodes.
As fluoxetine inhibits the reuptake of serotonin, this drug allows to increase the levels of serotonin in the brain and therefore to recover the gratifying sensations that the depressed one lacks.
This fact together with the realization of multiple clinical trials that have demonstrated the efficacy of fluoxetine to treat mood disorders have made it an effective psychoactive drug to intervene in cases of depression.
Fluoxetine for weight loss
Fluoxetine has been postulated as an effective treatment for weight loss since many people, when consuming this drug to intervene mental disorders such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder have experienced a weight loss.
This fact is explained mainly because, as we have seen previously, serotonin regulates the feelings of hunger, so that by modifying the functioning of this substance through fluoxetine can decrease appetite.
Serotonin is an inhibitory substance, so with respect to hunger, its main function is to send messages of satiety when the organism has already been sufficiently nourished.
Thus, by consuming fluoxetine, this regulation of satiety is altered, so that the brain stops regulating the feelings of hunger through the body's own mechanisms.
This is because the body, when it has ingested a sufficient amount of food, begins to produce serotonin so that the brain knows that it is already satiated and that it does not need to eat more.
Now, what happens when serotonin does not occur through the mechanisms of the body but through a drug that prevents its reuptake like fluoxetine?
Why is fluoxetine not indicated as a treatment for weight loss?
When consuming fluoexetina to lose weight, we can begin to have sensations of satiety when we are not really satiated, that is to say, when it indicates the serotonina produced by the fluoxetina and not when it indicates it our body.
This fact can be dangerous since we can begin to have derealized feeding patterns, since we can not eat when our body does not really have certain nutrients.
Thus, it has been concluded that fluoxetine may be an effective drug for slimming as it inhibits hunger but is not a suitable drug for slimming.
In fact, weight loss is one of the side effects of fluoxetine and is interpreted as a harmful phenomenon that can lead to the consumption of this drug.
Thus, the inhibition of serotonin reuptake that produces fluoxetine is intended to be selective to increase mood and relaxation ability, and to minimize side effects on hunger.
However, the complexities of the human brain does not allow this drug to have any side effects, so it can often affect feelings of appetite and satiety.
Thus, fluoxetine can not be considered as a suitable and effective drug for weight loss mainly because the effects it causes on appetite are neither desired nor controlled nor healthy for the person.
In addition, it must be taken into account that this drug is used to achieve specific effects in brains that present a specific needs.
Thus, attempting to increase mood through the increase of serotonin in a person who already possesses an optimum mood with adequate levels of serotonin in his brain can be detrimental.
References
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- Fleischhacker WW, Brooks DJ, Brooks, DJ (Editor). Neuropsychopharmacology Springer-Verlag New York, Incorporated, 2003
- Montgomery S.A. And Corn, T.H. (Eds) Psychopharmacology of Depression Oxford University Press, British Association for Psychopharmacology, Monographs No. 13, 1994.
- Preskorn, FEIGHNER JP., Stanga, CY, Ross R. (Eds) Antidepressants: Past, present and future. Springer-Verlag, 2004.