Mazindol
Pronunciation:MA-zin-doll (also pronounced MAYZ-in-dohl)
Chemical Abstracts Service Registry Number:22232-71-9
Formal Names:Mazanor, Sanorex, Teronac
Type:Stimulant (anorectic class).Seepage 15
Federal Schedule Listing:Schedule IV (DEA no. 1605)
USA Availability:Prescription
Pregnancy Category:C
Uses.Mazindol reduces appetite, and the drug’s main medical usage is
short-term promotion of weight loss. For that purpose one study showed ma-
zindol having about 10% to 20% ofdextroamphetamine’s strength; another
study noted that regardless of relative strength per milligram, patients on
mazindol shed about twice as many pounds as those on dextroamphetamine.
In studies examining diet drugs, persons using mazindol lost as many or even
more pounds compared to persons usingphenmetrazine. One 12-week ex-
periment found mazindol considerably more effective thandiethylpropionfor
human weight loss, although a rat study found those two drugs’ effectiveness
comparable. Some human studies put mazindol as about equal tofenflura-
minefor weight loss. Still other studies call mazindol’s performance the same
as a placebo. Perhaps these various findings are less a commentary on mazin-
dol than on the unclear effectiveness of diet drugs in general.
Although mazindol appears to produce depression among some users, in
others the drug works as an antidepressant. This antidepressant characteristic
is considered helpful in promoting weight loss, as some overweight persons
use food to compensate for sadness. As one condition improves, generally the
other one does also. Mazindol’s dual action as an anorectic and antidepressant
can make it especially appropriate for persons struggling to lose both mel-
ancholy and weight.
Some mazindol effects are like those of amphetamine, but the two sub-
stances are described as chemically unrelated. Mazindol seems to pep up rats.
In rat experiments the drug increases tendency to move around, more in fe-
males than in males. In humans the compound is used to combat narcolepsy
and the decline of muscle tone sometimes associated with that affliction. Ma-
zindol acts as a pain reliever in mice. One study found the drug made humans
more sensitive to pain, but other experimental usage reduced pain in terminal