NEW YORK, Feb 22 (Reuters Health) -- Kleptomania, the psychiatric disorder characterized by an overwhelming urge to steal objects, can be treated with a combination of Prozac -- or similar drugs -- and psychotherapy, a study suggests.
The treatment relieved the symptoms of kleptomania in five patients within 5 months, according to a report in the January/February issue of Clinical Neuropharmacology. After that point, the doctors reduced the dosage of medication, although this led to a return of the urge to steal in some patients, according to Dr. Elie Lepkifker and colleagues at Chaim Sheba Medical Center in Tel HaShomer, Israel.
"In one case, the discontinuation of the medication repeatedly led to the resurgence of the kleptomanic behavior," according to the report. The patients were given either fluoxetine (Prozac) or paroxetine (Paxil).
It is not clear why such serotonin reuptake inhibitors can help relieve the symptoms of Kleptomania, but the researchers suggest two possible explanations.
First, they speculate, kleptomania may be one of the obsessive-compulsive disorders, which have been treated successfully with serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Alternatively, the findings suggest that kleptomania may result from a fall in the brain's level of the neurotransmitter serotonin, which is corrected by the drug treatment.
Additional studies will be required to confirm the benefits of serotonin reuptake inhibitors in patients with kleptomania as well as to better understand the mechanisms underlying these benefits, the authors conclude.
SOURCE: Clinical Neuropharmacology 1999;22:40-43.
