Buspirone Health Article

Definition

Buspirone is an anti-anxiety (anxiolytic) drug sold in the United States under the brand name of BuSpar. It is also available under its generic name.

Purpose

Buspirone is used for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorders and for short term relief of symptoms of anxiety.

Description

Buspirone's mechanism of action is unclear but probably involves actions on such central nervous system chemicals as dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine, and norepinephrine. These chemicals are called neurotransmitters and are involved in the transmission of nervous impulses from cell to cell. Mental well-being is partially dependent on maintaining a balance among different neurotransmitters.

Buspirone's actions are different from a common class of sedatives called benzodiazepines. The primary action of benzodiazepines is to reduce anxiety, relax skeletal muscles, and induce sleep. The earliest drugs in this class were chlordiazepoxide (Librium) and diazepam (Valium). Buspirone also acts through a different mechanism than barbiturates such as phenobarbital. Unlike benzodiazepines, buspirone has no anticonvulsant or muscle-relaxant properties, and unlike benzodiazepines or barbiturates, it does not have strong sedative properties. If insomnia is a component of the patient's anxiety disorder, a sedative/hypnotic drug may be taken along with buspirone at bedtime. Buspirone also diminishes anger and hostility for most people. Unlike benzodiazepines, which may aggravate anger and hostility in some patients, (especially older patients), buspirone may help patients with anxiety who also have a history of aggression.

The benefits of buspirone take a long time to become evident. Unlike benzodiazepines, where onset of action and time to maximum benefit are short, patients must take buspirone for three to four weeks before feeling the maximum benefit of the drug. In some cases, four to six weeks of treatment may be required. Patients should be aware of this and continue to take the drug as prescribed even if they think they are not seeing any improvement.

Buspirone is available in 5-, 10-, 15-, and 30-mg tablets.