Weight loss in narcolepsy patients treated with sodium oxybate☆
Received 24 November 2007; received in revised form 26 April 2008; accepted 20 May 2008.
Abstract
Introduction
Narcolepsy is often associated with increased body weight. Sodium oxybate has efficacy in many narcolepsy symptoms. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of sodium oxybate on weight in patients with narcolepsy.
Methods
Charts from three centers of all patients with narcolepsy who had been using sodium oxybate for at least 3 months were reviewed. Patients in whom anti-cataplexy medications were added or withdrawn or wake-promoting medications added after the start of sodium oxybate were excluded from further analysis. In the remainder, pre-sodium oxybate and, most recently, on-sodium oxybate weights were compared using Student’s t-tests. Sodium oxybate dose and duration of therapy were also noted.
Results
A total of 54 patients meeting inclusion criteria were identified. Of these 54, 33 (61%) were women; the mean age was 48.3 years. The mean dose of sodium oxybate was 6.9g/night and the duration of therapy was 25 months. The mean pre-sodium oxybate weight was 78.3 (±15.7)kg. The most recent on-sodium oxybate weight was 74.9 (±15.1, p=0.003). The average weight loss was 3.4kg, whereas the maximum was 30.9kg.
Conclusions
This study suggests that treatment of patients with narcolepsy with sodium oxybate can result in weight loss.
aDepartment of Medicine (Neurology), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States
bNeurodiagnostic Center, Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC, United States
cSleep Disorders Center, Department of Neurology, ENH-Evanston Hospital, Evanston, IL, United States
dSleepMed of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, United States
Corresponding author. Address: Department of Medicine (Neurology), Duke University Medical Center, 202 Bell Building, Box 3678, Durham, NC 27710, United States. Tel.: +1 919 684 8485; fax: +1 919 684 8955.
☆ Disclosure: Drs. Husain and Bogan are on the Speaker’s Bureau for Jazz Pharmaceuticals.
ABSTRACT