Aug. 28, 1997 Users of widely prescribed diet pills may suffer
irreversible loss of brain serotonin nerve terminals, possibly
resulting in symptoms of anxiety, depression, cognitive and
sleep problems, suggests the first author of a newly published
report on fenfluramine side effects. National Institute of
Mental Health researcher Una McCann, M.D., and colleagues,
report on their review of 90 animal studies on serotonin
neurotoxicity and primary pulmonary hypertension from
fenfluramine and its chemical cousin dexfenfluramine, in the
August 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical
Association. An estimated 50 million people have taken the
drugs, often in combination with phentermine (hence "fen/phen"),
an amphetamine-like diet drug that counteracts the
fenfluramines' tendency to induce drowsiness. The study cautions
that if the animal findings apply to humans, the brain damage
"would be expected to occur in almost everyone taking a dose
sufficient to achieve weight loss." "I think there is cause for
con