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Given the intense preoccupation of Western women with body weight, potential weight gain as a side effect may reduce patient adherence to prescribed treatment. This manufacturer-supported study examined the question of whether antidepressants cause weight gain. Because fluoxetine has been associated with weight loss during the acute phase of treatment, subjects were patients who had experienced a remission of depression after 12 weeks on 20 mg of fluoxetine daily. These investigators randomized 395 patients to 38 weeks of fluoxetine or placebo and then assessed weight change.
After four weeks, average weight decreased 0.4 kg; after 40 weeks, there was no difference in weight gain between the groups. Patients who gained weight were those whos…