Paroxetine Effective Against Panic Disorders

SmithKline Beecham's 5-HT reuptake inhibitor Seroxat (paroxetine) appears to provide patients with panic disorder with more rapid relief from their symptoms than conventional therapy and with fewer side effects, according to the results of a study presented at a meeting in Copenhagen by Herman Westenburg of the department of biological psychiatry at the Academic Hospital in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Results of the double-blind trial, involving 368 patients with panic disorder, reveal that 75% of those who received paroxetine had at least a 50% reduction in their total number of panic attacks during the first nine weeks of treatment. This compared with 65% of patients receiving the tricyclic clomipramine and 60% of those receiving a placebo, Dr Westerberg told the Seventh Congress of the Association of European Psychiatrists.

Furthermore, 51% of patients receiving paroxetine were free of full panic attacks after nine weeks of therapy, compared to only 37% of those on clomipramine and 32% of those receiving placebo. At the end of 12 weeks of therapy around 80% of those receiving paroxetine and 70% of those clomipramine had a 50% reduction in their panic attacks, and about half of patients in both groups were completely symptom-free, noted Dr Westerberg.