Mania News and Research

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Childhood-onset bipolar disorder is more common than believed

In bipolar disorder, also called manic-depressive disorder, a person experiences mood changes that fluctuate between periods of abnormally high energy and extreme depression.

2 May 2007

FDA approves INVEGA treatment for schizophrenia

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved INVEGA (paliperidone) Extended-Release Tablets, a new once-daily, atypical antipsychotic, for the long-term maintenance treatment of schizophrenia.

30 Apr 2007

Difficult to distinguish bipolar symptoms in children

At least one-third of the time, the symptoms of bipolar disorder first appear in childhood or adolescence.

26 Apr 2007

Lithium increases gray matter in bipolar brains

Neuroscientists at UCLA have shown that lithium, long the standard treatment for bipolar disorder, increases the amount of gray matter in the brains of patients with the illness.

11 Apr 2007

Intensive psychotherapy most effective for treating bipolar depression

Patients taking medications to treat bipolar disorder are more likely to get well faster and stay well if they receive intensive psychotherapy, according to results from the Systematic Treatment Enhancement Program for Bipolar Disorder (STEP-BD), funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).

4 Apr 2007

Treatment options for bipolar disorder

For depressed people with bipolar disorder who are taking a mood stabilizer, adding an antidepressant medication is no more effective than a placebo (sugar pill), according to results published online on March 28, 2007 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

1 Apr 2007

Circadian genes may be involved in bipolar disorder

Disrupt the gene that regulates the biological clocks in mice and they become manic, exhibiting behaviors similar to humans with bipolar disorder, UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers have found.

25 Mar 2007

Schizophrenia drug to be used to treat autism

A drug normally used to treat schizophrenia has been given approval by the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration for use in treating the symptoms of autism in children and adolescents.

9 Oct 2006

SSRIs associated with severe violence in a small number of individuals

Use of one class of antidepressant drugs, the SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), may be associated with severe violence in a small number of individuals say the authors of paper published in PLoS Medicine.

12 Sep 2006

Bipolar disorder costs twice as much in lost productivity as major depressive disorder

Bipolar disorder costs twice as much in lost productivity as major depressive disorder, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) has found. Each U.S. worker with bipolar disorder averaged 65.5 lost workdays in a year, compared to 27.2 for major depression.

4 Sep 2006

ADHD drugs to carry warnings regarding heart problems, psychotic behavior and sudden death

According to U.S. health officials several drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) must now include new warning information about the risk of serious heart problems, psychotic behavior and sudden death.

24 Aug 2006

Antipsychotic use in children increasing

A steadily increasing number of patients younger than age 20 received prescriptions for antipsychotic medications between 1993 and 2002, according to a report published in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

9 Jun 2006

Bipolar disorder causes children to misinterpret facial expressions

Researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) have discovered why children with bipolar disorder tend to be more aggressive and irritable and have poorer social skills than healthy children.

31 May 2006

New tool identifies those at risk of bipolar disorder

According to a new study researchers have identified five predictors for bipolar disorder risk in patients who have been unsuccessfully treated with antidepressants.

23 May 2006

ADHD drug not safe for kids

According to a panel of experts advising the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the drug Provigil, although effective in treating attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children and teenagers, is not safe enough to win approval.

26 Mar 2006

Mood-swings impair attention and memory

A review on the neuropsychological aspects of bipolar disorder (alternations of mania and depression) by the group of Eduard Vieta (University of Barcelona) points to impairments in intellectual functioning in this patient population.

13 Mar 2006

Repligen commences phase 2 trial of RG2417 for bipolar depression

Repligen Corporation today announced that the Company has initiated a Phase 2 clinical trial of RG2417, an oral formulation of uridine, in patients with bipolar depression.

9 Mar 2006

Children and teen-agers with bipolar disorder suffer from the illness differently than adults do

Their symptoms last longer and swing more swiftly from hyperactivity and recklessness to lethargy and depression.

17 Feb 2006

Bipolar disorder in children

Children with bipolar disorder experience more enduring and rapidly changing symptoms of the disease than adults, according to a study that, for the first time, maps the clinical progression of each of the three sub-types of bipolar disorder in children and adolescents.

9 Feb 2006

Identification of bipolar risk gene

A collaboration, led by scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, has discovered the first risk gene specifically for bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness. This means that people who have a particular form of this gene are twice as likely to develop the disease.

16 Jan 2006