The condition, which affects 1.5million people, is usually
treated using psychological therapy. However, until now there
has been no licensed drug for the 30 per cent who fail to
respond to counselling. Last week trials showed a type of
amphetamine called Vyvanse, taken for attention hyperactivity
disorder in children, could help Binge Eating Disorder.
Professor Susan McElroy, a psychiatrist at Cincinnati University
in the US, who led the trial, said: “Patients showed a
significant change in eating habits. “We think it targets
receptors in the brain that regulate how much a person eats.”
The trial involving 277 patients took three months. Irish drug
firm Shire, the owner of Vyvanse, is now planning a final trial
phase and it hopes the drug could be available in the next two
years. Binge eating can cause digestive disorders, heart disease
and diabetes. This drug has a good safety profile in children
with ADHD, who are often on it long-term Drugs like Vyvanse were
used as slimming aids in the Sixties and Sevent