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By John O'Neil
Pain caused by problems in the nervous
system, called neuropathic pain, is often difficult to treat.
But a new study found that the severity of the pain was reduced
significantly among patients taking an antidepressant called
bupropion.
The standard treatment for neuropathic
pain in recent years has been with an older class of antidepressants
called tricyclics.
The ability of the drugs to help does not mean that neuropathic
pain is caused by depression; the antidepressants can ease
the pain because they act on the type of nerve that causes
it.
The new study was conducted by researchers
at the University of Arizona and supported in part by GlaxoSmithKline,
which markets bupropion under the name Wellbutrin. In the
study, 41 patients with neuropathic pain, but not depression,
were given either bupropion or a placebo once a week. After
six weeks, they were switched to the other pill.
At the end of the experiment, 71
percent of the patients reported that their pain decreased
on bupropion, compared with 10 percent for the
placebo. About a third of patients said their condition was
"much improved" by bupropion.
The researchers reported several side
effects that they described as mild, including dry mouth,
insomnia and headache. But they said that bupropion, unlike
tricyclic antidepressants, did not appear to pose the threat
of causing irregular heartbeats in cardiac patients.
New York Times November
21, 2001
Journal of Neurology November 2001
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