Inositol treatment of obsessive-compulsive disorder

Objective: Earlier studies reported that inositol, a simple polyol second messenger precursor, was effective in controlled trials for patients with depression and panic. In this study its effectiveness in obsessive- compulsive disorder was investigated. Method: Thirteen patients with obsessive compulsive disorder completed a double-blind, controlled crossover trial of 18 g/day of inositol or placebo for 6 weeks each. Results: The subjects bad significantly lower scores on the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale when taking inositol than when taking placebo. Conclusions: The authors conclude that inositol is effective in depression, panic, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, a spectrum of disorders responsive to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.