Fluoxetine

Fluoxetine is a selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitor used to treat a number of disorders. Fluoxetine affects chemicals in the brain that may become out of balance and cause depression, panic or anxiety. Fluoxetine is a well-known treatment of a depressive disorder, bulimia nervosa (an eating disorder) obsessive-compulsive disorder, panic disorder, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD).

An example of its use was when it was used treat an elderly lady with depression.(Joss, Burton and Keller 2003). Though unknown at the time, over the next 6 weeks, she gradually lost her memory. she had been hospitalised, her short term memory grew worse. Even after the discontinuation of Fluoxetine, for several days her memory grew worse. Once she had started recovering, she underwent examines testing her on short-term memory in which she scored zero. Gradually her memory returned, however her short-term memory took the longest to recover.This suggests that it was the most affected by the drug. Due to this case, clinicians are now aware of possible implications with Fluoxetine and possibly other selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors and how they may affect the memory of the patient.