It’s part of the human condition to worry about one’s health, family, budget, or job. By contrast, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) is intense worry that occurs frequently and often irrationally about many common day-to-day minor activities and events. GAD is common. In North America, some 3–5 percent of individuals over eighteen years of age experience GAD each year. BuSpar and the benzodiazepine Valium (diazepam) are often used to treat this problem.
BuSpar (buspirone), which gained FDA approval in 1986, doesn’t chemically resemble the benzodiazepines. It does not have the same effects on sleep, muscle relaxation, or seizures, nor does it appear to cause a dependent state or produce its beneficial effects the way benzodiazepines do. The latter drugs interact with GABA (gamma-aminobutyric acid) receptors in the brain, while BuSpar acts on serotonin receptors. It is a very different drug.
Studies have compared BuSpar with Valium in GAD patients. Valium is highly effective in producing relief after only a few days. What’s the problem with it, then? When used over an extended time, which is necessary to successfully treat GAD, Valium has the potential to be abused. BuSpar may not be as effective as Valium in GAD, but it is not sedating, neither is it subject to abuse when taken over many months. BuSpar is not recommended for relief of simple anxiety or panic reactions and must be taken for many weeks before its beneficial effects in GAD appear, however. Until it does work, Valium is sometimes given.
Some drugs interact with other drugs; BuSpar interacts with food. For example, the drug should not be taken with grapefruit juice, which contains chemicals that block liver enzymes that break down BuSpar (as well as statins and many other drugs), increasing its blood levels four-fold, which can result in adverse effects.
SEE ALSO Drug Receptors (1905), Phenobarbital (1912), Valium (1963), Xanax (1981).
There is no shortage of drugs, such as BuSpar, to relieve the stress and worry that people commonly experience in today’s society. Drug benefits are relatively rapid but temporary, and a nondrug approach is usually required to produce long-lasting relief.