Hyperglycaemia and ketosis induced by gamma hydroxybutyrate (GHB)

Excerpt

To the Editor: Sodium oxybate (gamma hydroxybutyrate [GHB]), which is sold in the USA under the trade name Xyrem, is approved for and used in the treatment of cataplexy and excessive daytime sleepiness in patients with narcolepsy. However, approving GHB for these indications proved difficult, since GHB is used recreationally to enhance the ‘dancing experience in the club scene’, for date rape and for weight loss and body building [1]. Since GHB is a CNS depressant, its use with alcohol or other CNS depressant drugs is dangerous. As a result of these dangers and abuses, GHB was difficult to approve as an orphan drug and is therefore tightly regulated. In some countries GHB is banned, and in the USA can only be obtained from approved central pharmacies and prescribed by a limited number of approved neurologists [1]. …