Tag: Antipsychotics

The Experts Guide to Treating Agitation 

Treating agitation is a big part of inpatient and emergency psychiatric treatment. In the emergency department agitation accounts for 2.6% of total patient encounters. Knowing which medications to use and how to use them is critically important. Today I’m going to discuss all the options for the treatment of acute agitation in clinical practice. 

What is Agitation?

Agitation is an extreme form of arousal that is associated with increased verbal and motor activity that poses a threat to themselves and others. Agitation needs to be recognized immediately and addressed due to the risk of harm to the patient and others. 

Verbal De-escalation is Always The First Step

Engaging the patient and attempting to elicit a reason for the agitation should always be attempted first. In many cases patients are hungry, tired, or overly stimulated by the busy inpatient or ED setting. If these interventions are unsuccessful and the patient remains agitated security staff lead by the physician should inform the patient that if the behavior continues medication will be administered for safety purposes.

Thinking About Medication

Sometimes using medication is unavoidable and is required to facilitate a medical evaluation. We need to be mindful of the potential adverse events associated with sedating medication. The most common adverse effects are hypoxia, airway obstruction, QTc prolongation, bradycardia, and hypotension. Patients over the age of 65, alcohol intoxication, and multiple medication administrations in a short period of time increases the risk of adverse events.

Routes of Administration

It’s always best to offer PO (oral) medication prior to using IM or IV medications. In the inpatient setting we do not allow IVs due to the potential risk of self-harm; IM medication is second route of administration commonly used. I will usually use risperidone 2 mg or olanzapine zydis 10 mg because it begins dissolving immediately once the person puts it in their mouth in both cases. Oral medications can be “cheeked” and will also take longer to start working. In general, it’s important to note the onset of PO medication will be slower. Antipsychotic medications and benzodiazepines are commonly used for sedation in acute agitation. 

First Generation Dopamine Blocking Medications

These medications have been around for a long time and have a good safety profile when used to treat acute agitation. Some antipsychotics have the risk for more side effects due to their ability to lower seizure threshold, cause hypotension, and have an increased anticholinergic burden. 

Haloperidol

This is the go-to antipsychotic for acute agitation. It works by blocking D2 receptors and can be given PO, IM, or IV. Typical dosing is 2.5 to 10 mg with a recommended maximum dose of 20 mg/day. The average time to sedation is 25-28 minutes and the mean total time sedated is 84-126 minutes. The main risk for haloperidol is EPS such as acute dystonic reactions. To avoid this situation, we usually combine Haldol with lorazepam or benztropine/diphenhydramine. Haldol is also well studied and relatively staff for those who are acutely intoxicated with alcohol. 

Chlorpromazine

I will usually go to chlorpromazine when I need someone to sleep such as cases of mania with acute agitation. I find it to be a little more sedating and it can be combined with diphenhydramine. Doses can range from 25 mg to 200 mg depending on the level of severity. The maximum dose is 400 mg/day. 

Second Generation Dopamine Blocking Medication

Second generation medications have the added advantage of lower risk for QTc prolongation, less sedation, and fewer extrapyramidal symptoms compared to the first-generation options. 

Olanzapine

Olanzapine comes in PO, IM, and IV forms, and the typical starting dose is 10 mg. Olanzapine reaches peak concentration in 15-45 minutes and its half-life is 2-4 hours. The incidence of EPS is much lower than injectable haloperidol. There is very rare incidence of QTc prolongation. There is some evidence that 10 mg of olanzapine is more effective than 5 mg of haloperidol for sedation and that most patients are adequately sedated at 15 minutes after administration of 10 mg olanzapine compared to 5 mg and 10 mg of haloperidol. 

It’s important to note that multiple studies have demonstrated adverse events when olanzapine is combined with benzodiazepines. Although the risk may be overstated it’s best to avoid this combination unless necessary. Olanzapine is highly anticholinergic and should be avoided in cases where anticholinergic overdose is suspected. 

Ziprasidone

Ziprasidone is a second-generation medication that is available in either PO or IM formulations. The PO form of the medication has little utility in acute agitation, but the IM version can be useful. Time to onset of effect is usually 15-20 minutes and it reaches peak concentrations in 30-45 minutes. The duration of sedation is at least 4 hours. Ziprasidone carriers the highest risk of second-generation medications for QTc prolongation

Risperidone

Data for risperidone in acute agitation is limitted. It does have the advantage of coming as an oral disintegrating tablet. In most cases I would administer 2-4 mg depending on the severity of symptoms. It can be a good option for patients with psychotic agitation due to paranoid delusions. It’s a good option for elderly patients and pregnant patients who can take PO medication. 

Benzodiazepines 

Benzodiazepines are another good choice when it comes to rapid treatment of acute agitation. Benzodiazepines do carry the risk of creating a paradoxical reaction in the elderly, but it’s relatively rare and seen in only 1% of cases. Flumazenil (benzodiazepine blocker) can be used to counteract this paradoxical reaction if needed. There is risk for respiratory depression especially in those who are already on central nervous system depressants. If withdrawal is suspected from benzodiazepines or alcohol, this is the first line option for treatment. 

Lorazepam

Lorazepam is available in IV, IM, and PO formulations. The typical dosing is 0.5-2 mg IM or PO. This medication can be given every 30 minutes up to a maximum dose of 12 mg/day. Lorazepam is longer acting than midazolam and has an average time to adequate sedation of 32 minutes. 

Midazolam

Midazolam is available in IM formulation and the typical dosing begins at 2-5 mg. The average time to sedation is 13-18 minutes for the IM formulation. When given IM the total time of sedation is between 82-105 minutes. Midazolam offers the advantage over lorazepam because it’s onset of action is faster. Midazolam also works faster than haloperidol or ziprasidone. The duration of sedation is also shorter. 

Medication Combinations

In most cases these medications will be used in combination to maximize their effects. The most well-known is the so called B52 which consists of Haloperidol 5 mg, Lorazepam 2 mg, and diphenhydramine 50 mg. The idea here being 50, 5, and 2 are the doses and B52 because it’s like the B52 bombers when it comes to sedation. I also often combine chlorpromazine and olanzapine with 50 mg of diphenhydramine in the IM formulations. For PO risperidone you can combine it with PO lorazepam and diphenhydramine if needed. With ziprasidone I will usually give this one alone without lorazepam or diphenhydramine. 

Physical Restraints

The utilization of physical restraints may be necessary when safety is a major concern. In some cases, verbal de-escalation, and medication are not enough. The problem is physical restraints can lead to injury for both the patient and staff. Patients who continue to fight against the restraints can have a complication known as rhabdomyolysis where the muscles are literally breaking down from the person fighting against the restraints. Sedation should always be provided when physical restraints are used. What happens if a person is given high doses of sedating medications and placed in psychical restraints but remains agitated?

Special Cases

It’s rare but I have had two clinical scenarios where an individual was placed in restraints given multiple doses of medications and remained severely agitated. Due to concern for the patient’s safety and risk of rhabdomyolysis I had to transfer each of these cases to the medical floor for IV dexmedetomidine (Precedex) which is commonly used to sedate patients in the intensive care unit who are intubated. After a short course of Precedex treatment each patient’s agitation resolved. There is now a rapidly dissolving film of dexmedetomidine available for acute agitation in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, so I guess I was ahead of the times when I made these clinical decisions. 

Conclusion

Agitation is a complicated and multifactorial process that requires quick action. To maintain safety, agitation needs to be quickly identified and managed. Verbal de-escalation and comfort measures should always be the starting point. If medications are required there are several individual and combinations that can be selected based on the clinical situation. When all else fails physical restraints remain a possibility until medications have had time to reach peak concentrations and effectiveness. 

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The Real Story Behind Using Two Antipsychotics For Schizophrenia

It wasn’t that long ago when I was sitting in lectures as a first-year psychiatry resident. I learned about the first- and second-generation antipsychotic medications in detail. One commandment that was always preached in my training was to never combine two antipsychotic medications because there is no additional benefit. Today we are here to explore this idea and see if there is truly no additional benefit to using two antipsychotics and explore why there is so much antipsychotic polypharmacy in serious mental illness.  

Introduction

While all training programs preach the use of mono-therapy when it comes to the use of antipsychotics in clinical practice, the reality is up to 50% of psychiatric inpatients are receiving antipsychotic polypharmacy. 

Since most guidelines discourage the use of multiple antipsychotic medications, why are many psychiatrists going against these guidelines? In most cases we are just trying to stabilize patients, get them better, and keep them out of the hospital as the goal is to provide most psychiatric care in the community. To reach these goals a single medication does not always produce the desired results. 

Patients that end up on multiple antipsychotics have some unique characteristics. They tend to have more severe psychotic symptoms, are male, unemployed, and younger. Those with frequent inpatient admissions on involuntary status are also more likely to end up on two medications. 

What To Do When a Single Medication Is Not Enough?

The use of multiple antipsychotics is an area of limitted research. However, there is a difference between rational polypharmacy and irrational polypharmacy.

We should start this discussion by saying a patient should be started on monotherapy titrated to an effective dose and continued on the medication for 6 weeks prior to making a change. If the first medications fails, then switching to another medication or long acting injectable is a reasonable next step. If after another 6 weeks of treatment the patient remains unstable and symptomatic the technical next step is to start clozapine. There are many reasons why clozapine may not be a good option for a particular patient including the strict requirements for weekly complete blood cell counts CBCs.

Assuming this process is followed and the patient is still symptomatic what’s the next step?

Consider Receptor Binding Profiles

This is the first step in prescribing two medications rationally. Most first-generation medications such as Haldol will bind tightly to D2 receptors and stay bound to the sites longer. Second-generation medications like quetiapine are known to bind to the receptors and quickly dissociate giving an on-off like effect. Tight binding and longer duration of binding can lead to extrapyramidal side effects (EPS), whereas quick on-off medications like quetiapine have limitted EPS risk. 

You should also consider other receptors the medication may target such as histamine and muscarinic cholinergic receptors. It would be best to avoid combining two medications that have high antihistamine and anticholinergic activity.

Let’s look at some scenarios where antipsychotic polypharmacy makes sense. 

Patients With Acute Agitation

This is a common problem on the inpatient unit. A patient is on a low-potency quick on-off medication like quetiapine but remains symptomatic and is engaging in dangerous behavior. 

The addition of a higher potency, higher affinity medication like Haldol makes some sense here. This will control the acute agitation, can be titrated until the psychotic aggression is controlled, and can be stopped as soon as the patient is stable on quetiapine. We can see how the receptor binding profile makes this combination reasonable.

Clozapine Refractory Patients

What do you do when a patient is on the best antipsychotic medication but remains symptomatic? 

We do have several lines of evidence that we can look at for this question. One option is to add low dose risperidone. This is a similar idea to adding Haldol to quetiapine. Clozapine has lower affinity for the D2 receptor than risperidone which has much higher affinity for D2 receptors. There were two placebo-controlled trials that support this combination. Before combining medications, I would suggest obtaining a clozapine level to make sure it’s therapeutic. 

There are two more recent studies that compared multiple antipsychotic medication combinations and used rehospitalization as a measure of effectiveness. Both studies found a significant reduction in rehospitalization for patients receiving polypharmacy compared to those receiving monotherapy. The best outcome was achieved when clozapine was combined with aripiprazole. 

Patient is On a Long Acting Injectable (LAI) but Remains Symptomatic at the Highest Dose 

This is a common problem because the doses of LAIs are limitted. For example, the LAI aripiprazole (Aristida) is limitted to a maximum dose of 20 mg/day. The oral formulations of aripiprazole allow for a maximum dose of 30 mg/day. One strategy is to give the injection early. This will usually be done on week 3 for formulations that last 4 weeks. Another option is to add another medication with a different receptor binding profile such as the clozapine aripiprazole combination that was shown to reduce the risk of rehospitalization.

Treatment of Insomnia 

The addition of low dose quetiapine to a medication like paliperidone is common in clinical practice. Once D2 receptor blockade has been maximized by reaching an effective dose of paliperidone, considering the addition of as need (PRN) quetiapine for its low potency and sedating properties is reasonable. The medication should be used PRN only and should be removed once the insomnia has resolved. Consider a sleep study if sleep apnea is possible and using other options such as short-term orexin antagonists, melatonin, and sedating antidepressant if appropriate. 

Treatment of Antipsychotic Induced Side Effects 

I know what you are going to say, adding a medication to treat a side effect of another medication doesn’t make sense. Let’s take an example to illustrate why this makes sense. If a patient is stable on risperidone and is discovered to have an elevated prolactin level you have an obligation to address it. The addition of low dose aripiprazole has been proven to reduce prolactin levels in these cases. Another possibility is using aripiprazole to reduce the metabolic burden of medications such as clozapine. There is much more limited data in this area and I would consider metformin a much better option to start with if antipsychotic induced weight gain is a problem.

In the process of Switching Medication the Patient Achieves Remission 

This is another common clinical scenario. A patient didn’t respond to a medication, and you begin decreasing the dose of the first medication while titrating the new medicine. Then suddenly they are better. You don’t know why but they are better than they have ever been and now you are afraid to make any additional changes. Ideally you would finish the process and appropriately titrate the new medicine while discontinuing the ineffective medication. There is no good data to support inadequate dosing of two antipsychotics, and it’s best to continue your taper/titration and reevaluate after it’s complete.

Conclusion

There is still limited data to support the use of multiple antipsychotic medications although it is often seen in clinical practice. There are a few places where the addition of a second medication makes sense, and we can use receptor profiles to help us make rational decisions and avoid excess side effect burden. 

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The Most Feared Side Effect of antipsychotic Medication

Introduction: 

I get a lot of questions about the risks and side effects associated with antipsychotic medications. These medications are no longer used exclusively in schizophrenia, and they are now widely accepted as treatment for bipolar disorder, adjunctive therapy for depression, and even severe anxiety disorders resistant to other medications. 

As a result, more people than ever are being prescribed these medications and many are concerned about the risk of side effects. One that I get asked about all the time and maybe the most feared of all side effects is the often-irreversible movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia (TD). 

This discussion and video will help you understand the risk of developing TD and the approaches to managing it should symptoms develop. 

EPS and Dopamine Blockade: 

Dopamine receptor blockade can cause a variety of movement disorders, after all dopamine is directly involved in the process of movement. We call the movement disorders associated with dopamine blocking medication extrapyramidal syndromes (EPS). 

Most EPS develop shortly after staring medication and are treatable with medication and stopping the offending agent. This is not the case for TD. There is a delay in the onset of symptoms (tardy) and persistence of the symptoms well after the medication has been stopped. 

TD can develop after medication is used for a few months, or as little as a few weeks in the case of elderly patients. TD can also occur when a medication is discontinued or reduced. 

Myths About TD: 

  • The longer you stay on an antipsychotic the more likely you are to develop TD. The prevalence (proportion of people who have a condition at or during a particular time) of TD increases with time, but the incidence (number of new cases) decreases with time. 
  • With first generation dopamine blockers 40-50% of patients developed TD but not in a linear fashion. Half of the patients developed TD within the first 5 years of taking medication. The incidence is about 5% per year over the first 5 years and then the incidence decreases to 1-2% per year and levels off after that. 
  • TD is more likely to occur in the first few years of treatment and less likely after 5 years of treatment. 
  • The risk of TD does not increase if acute EPS occurs and does not decrease if no acute acute EPS develops

Risk factors for the development of TD: 

  • Diagnosis of schizophrenia 
  • Older age 
  • Female sex 

Schizophrenia itself causes TD and has been described in the literature long before medications were used as treatment. The prevalence was lower about 5-10% Vs 40% seen after medications were used in treatment. This occurs because schizophrenia is not just a disease of the cortex it also involves the basal ganglia which is responsible for the movement disorders. 

TD Risk at 1 Year of Treatment: 

  • Risperidone 0.6% 
  • Olanzapine 0.5% 
  • Haloperidol 2.7% to 4.5% 

It’s clear from this data that first-generation dopamine blocking medications have a much higher rate of TD compared to the second-generation medications. This 0.5% rate is similar to the rate seen in the natural course of illness in schizophrenia (essentially the same as placebo). 

In patients with mood illnesses who use dopamine blocking medications there are very low rates of TD. It can occur in mood disorders but it’s very infrequent and does not occur at nearly the same rates seen in schizophrenia.

The risk of TD is associated with the underlying pathology of schizophrenia which is distinct from other mood disorders. 

Treatment of TD:

For a long time, there was no treatment for TD. In the last few years two medications have been developed Valbenazine (ingrezza) and deutetrabenazine (Austedo) both of which are FDA approved. 

The mechanism of action of these two medications is VMAT-2 inhibition. Vesicular monoamine transporter 2 inhibition results in decreased monoamine activity at the synapse. 

The studies used to gain FDA approval of these medications showed a mild improvement on the abnormal involuntary movement scale of 2-3 points in patients with mild TD. 

It’s important to keep in mind TD did not go away fully but it did improve over placebo. 

The best treatment for TD is to stop the dopamine blocker. In some cases, if the dopamine blocker is stopped early enough TD is reversible. In many cases the medications are continued because there are no other clinical options and you are left with treating TD with VMAT-2 inhibitors. 

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The Best Antipsychotic Medication in The World 

Introduction:

I’ve said it before in previous videos, older medications are more effective and newer medications have fewer side effects. 

The advent of SSRIs in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s was largely driven by safety and not efficacy. The same is true for antipsychotic medications. This may be the reason most people haven’t even heard about Clozapine (brand name Clozaril). 

Efficacy

Clozapine is the single most effective antipsychotic available, and it works in treatment resistant schizophrenia where no other medication is proven to be effective. 

The results speak for themselves, 30% of previously treatment resistant patients experience symptom reduction within 6 weeks and that number jumps to 60% after 6 months of treatment. 

Clozapine has a slew of additional benefits including mood stabilizing prosperities (it can be used in bipolar disorder), reduction in psychogenic polydipsia and the hyponatremia associated with it, reduction in hostility and aggression, reduction in the risk of suicidal ideation, improvement in substance use, and it may even help patients quit smoking a difficult task in schizophrenia. 

So why are most schizophrenic patients not on this medication if it’s so great? 

Side effects, side effect, side effects

-Sedation: feeling tired this can largely be mitigated by dosing the medication at night before bedtime. 

-Tachycardia: It’s worth getting an EKG in patients with preexisting heart conditions or those at high risk due to hypertension and hyperlipidemia 

-Sialorrhea: excessive saliva production leading to drooling, no one wants this 

-Dizziness

-Constipation: this should be addressed immediately if a patient complains about it as it can lead to serious complications. In many cases Senna and Colace will do the trick

-Orthostatic hypotension 

-Weight gain 

Serious and potentially fatal Side effects include: 

-Agranulocytosis: decreased absolute neutrophil count which can result in increased risk for serious infection and the reason everyone on the medication gets weekly blood draws for the first 6 months 

-Seizures: clozapine is known to lower the seizure threshold 

-Myocarditis: inflammation of the heart usually due to a viral infection 

The risk for agranulocytosis is highest when starting treatment, usually during the first year of treatment (0.8%) and the maximum risk is between 4 and 18 weeks (when 77% of cases occur), although it can still occur at any point in the treatment.

Agranulocytosis

Monitoring is thus very important, and each patient must be registered in the Risk Evaluation and Mitigation strategy (REMS) data base before starting the medication. 

A CBC with differential must be drawn to calculate the absolute neutrophil count prior to starting treatment and then weekly for the first 6 months. Then monitoring continues every 2 weeks for the next 6 months and finally monthly after the first year of treatment. 

If agranulocytosis occurs stopping clozapine allows majority of cases to recover within 14 days. 

Now that we know that this medication is very effective but comes with a high side effect burden a natural next question might be why does the medication work? 

Mechanism of Action

Clozapine has very low affinity for the D2 receptors which is unique as most other antipsychotics will bind strongly to D2 receptors. Clozapine had far greater D1 and D4 binding affinity, blocking both receptors. 

Clozapine also has significant activity at other neurotransmitter sites. It blocks alpha receptors which may be the reason for orthostatic hypotension. It blocks histamine H1 receptors resulting in sedation and weight gain. It blocks 5-HT2A serotonin receptors and is highly anticholinergic resulting in constipation and urinary retention. 

It has two unique properties; it influences the glutamate system by altering NMDA receptor sensitivity and increases the release of brain derived neurotrophic factor BDNF. 

Metabolism And Drug Interactions

Clozapine is primarily metabolized by CYP450 1A2 and 3A4 and cigarette smoking will cause a reduction in clozapine levels due to induction of CYP 1A2. 

Before Starting the Medication

Before starting clozapine, the ANC must be above 1,500. If neutropenia develops treatment will depend on the severity of the drop. 

Mild Neutropenia: ANC 1,000-1,499, you would continue treatment and check an ANC three times weekly until it reaches 1,500. 

Moderate Neutropenia: ANC between 500 and 999, stop treatment and check the ANC daily until it reaches 1,000 then 3 times weekly until it reaches 1,500 then weekly for 4 weeks before returning to the patients prior monitoring schedule. 

Severe Neutropenia: ANC less than 500, stop treatment and check an ANC daily until it’s 1,000 then 3 times weekly until it’s 1,500. The patient should not be rechallenged without a hematology consult and clear benefits that outweigh the risks. 

Dosing

Clozapine can be started at 12.5 to 25 mg at bedtime. The dose can be increased 25 mg/day inpatient and 25 mg per week in the outpatient setting as tolerated. 

You can overlap prior treatment with another antipsychotic and tapper the old medication once clozapine dose reaches 100 mg or more. 

Plasma Levels

Clozapine dose should be based on serum levels, with a target blood level of 200 to 300 ng/ml. If there are still symptoms present the target serum level is 450 ng/ml. There are no benefits to serum levels above 900 ng/ml. 

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The Neurobiology of Appetite

Metabolic set point 

People alter the quantity and frequency of food consumption daily and yet the brain seems to have a regulatory process that allows people to maintain a relatively stable body weight. 

Isn’t that crazy? 

Anyone who has ever tried to diet knows all too well about this metabolic set point. There are staggeringly low rates of success with diet programs. A systematic review of studies published between 1931 and 1999 found that only 15% of patients achieved dietary success after 5 years. Most people who diet will slowly return to their preexisting weight within 1 year.

This metabolic set point appears to be controlled by our genetics. There is a strong correlation between the body mass of biological parents and adoptees in adoption-based studies. In the case of weight, genetics has far more influence than environmental factors. 

Despite all this obesity rates in the United States as well as other developed countries continues to rise, so what gives? 

Our genes have difficulty responding to the modern environment. 3000 years ago, when food sources were scarce, it was advantageous to consume and store as many calories as possible. However, in the modern world where there is no shortage of opportunity to consume calorie dense foods, our genetics are working against us. The weight issue is genetic but also influenced by availability of high-calorie delicious food. 

When it comes to weight, energy in (food) must equal energy out (heat and work). The energy out is made up of the resting metabolic rate (calories burned when the body is stationary) and physical activity. The brain has a unique mechanism for managing the RMR. When more calories are consumed the RMR increases and when we diet the RMR is turned down. 

To solidify the point, we can look no further than The Biggest Loser competition. Investigators assessed 14 of the 16 contestants before the competition, after completion of the 30-week program, and 6 years after the show. 13 of the 14 study participants regained weight and 4 were heavier than when they started the competition 6 years ago. The real downer was they all burned less calories at rest 6 years after the show ended. Despite exercising more and theoretically being much healthier their RMR decreased. 

What are the important signals used by the body that indicate when to eat and when to stop eating?

Short-Term signels include: 

Glucose: This is the primary nutrient that mediates satiety. Hypoglycemia will stimulate hunger and increase eating, while glucose infusions will decrease food intake. 

Mechanoreceptors in the gut: The physical presence of food in the stomach activates these receptors due to stretching, the vagus nerve transmits signals of gastric stretch to the hindbrain to decrease eating. 

Gut Hormones: The most well understood is cholecystokinin (CCK) which is released by endocrine cells in the small intestine. This will inhibit further food intake by stimulating the vagus nerve and decreasing gastric emptying. People have tried using CCK as a weight loss measure but all it does is decrease the size of meals but increases the frequency of eating thus producing a net zero effect on weight loss.

Ghrelin is the only gut hormone that stimulates hunger. Some suggest that decreased ghrelin produced by the stomach is the reason gastric bypass surgery is effective for weight loss. 

It’s now known that adipose tissue releases a hormone that conveys information about energy stores. Leptin is produced by fat cells and increases or decreases based on the total amount of fat. Leptin is a hormone that tells the body to stop eating. In the case of obesity leptin levels are high and energy expenditure increases while food intake decreases. When someone goes on a diet and fat stores decrease leptin decreases resulting in decreased energy expenditure and increased food intake. 

Two groups of neurons in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus mediate the leptin signal, proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and neuropeptide Y (NPY). POMC stops eating and NPY increases food intake and decreases energy expenditure. In obesity there is increased leptin which inhibits NPY and activates POMC resulting in increased energy expenditure and decreased food intake. The opposite is true for the lean individual. 

Eating and Pleasure

It’s well established that eating can result in pleasure, we have all had this experience after a stressful week a good meal can instantly change our mindset. The pleasure from food is likely an adaptation that enhanced survival when food sources were scarce. Increased dopamine in the nucleus accumbens and release of endogenous opioids appears to be more active when we are eating a meal we enjoy. 

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