Bipolar Disorder News and Research

Latest Bipolar Disorder News and Research

FDA approves Contrave extended-release tablets for chronic weight management

Takeda Pharmaceuticals U.S.A., Inc. and Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. jointly announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Contrave® extended-release tablets as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for chronic weight management in adults with an initial body mass index of 30 kg/m2 or greater (obese), or 27 kg/m2 or greater (overweight) in the presence of at least one weight-related comorbid condition.

11 Sep 2014

Type 2 diabetes adds to hospital mortality risk in bipolar patients

Type 2 diabetes is a major contributor to mortality in patients with bipolar disorder who are admitted to general hospitals, a study shows.

3 Sep 2014

Longer looks: A new kind of abortion war; foster kids and psychotropic drugs

While pro-life activists fight to rescue IVF embryos from the freezer, pregnant women in their third trimester with catastrophic fetal anomalies have nowhere to turn. ... Perhaps there is no other issue that touches on so many core dimensions of American society - legal, medical, scientific, theological, political, philosophical, biological, ethical, and ecological. What some on one side of the debate call reproductive justice, others call taking a life. What some call a person, others call a cluster of cells.

28 Aug 2014

Optimal personalised treatment improves bipolar life quality, functioning

Optimal personalised treatment improves quality of life and functioning of patients with bipolar disorder type I or II, suggests research published in the Journal of Affective Disorders.

28 Aug 2014

Aberrant reward processing likely to precede bipolar symptom onset

Healthy children who have a parent with bipolar disorder show altered brain activation during reward processing, research shows.

28 Aug 2014

Study sheds new light on sleep drunkenness disorder

A study is shining new light on a sleep disorder called "sleep drunkenness". The disorder may be as prevalent as affecting one in every seven people. The research is published in the August 26, 2014, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

26 Aug 2014

Fitness-related traits in bipolar disorder relatives may explain disease persistence

Unaffected twins of patients with bipolar disorder show enhanced neurocognitive function and positive temperament traits, research shows.

21 Aug 2014

Survey of veterans receiving mental health services finds general satisfaction

A survey of U.S. veterans receiving mental health services from the Veterans Health Administration finds general satisfaction, but also significant room for improvement among all areas studied.

21 Aug 2014

Genetics may underpin psychiatric comorbidity in bipolar patients

Relatives of people with bipolar disorder are at an increased risk of developing not only bipolarity but also other psychiatric disorders, according to Swedish researchers.

20 Aug 2014

Rare mutation in suspect gene disrupts brain circuitry in complex psychiatric disorders

Researchers have long suspected that major mental disorders are genetically-rooted diseases of synapses - the connections between neurons.

18 Aug 2014

Illness-linked genetic variation affects connections among neurons in the developing brain

A genetic variation linked to schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and severe depression wreaks havoc on connections among neurons in the developing brain, a team of researchers reports.

16 Aug 2014

Affective temperaments linked to neurocognition in BD

Affective temperaments are correlated with neurocognitive functioning in people with bipolar disorder, clinical research suggests.

13 Aug 2014

Research: First effective web-based treatment for bipolar disorder

The first effective web-based treatment for Bipolar Disorder based on the latest research evidence has been developed by psychologists.

12 Aug 2014

Postoperative 'doctor shopping' linked to higher narcotic use among orthopaedic patients

"Doctor shopping," the growing practice of obtaining narcotic prescriptions from multiple providers, has led to measurable increases in drug use among postoperative trauma patients.

12 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: The doctor is in -- at Walmart; a 'hole' in the Halbig strategy

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. wants to disrupt another mass market: health care. The company is piloting what it hopes will be a broad network of primary-care clinics.

12 Aug 2014

Alexza Pharmaceuticals announces availability of ADASUVE inhalation powder in Guatemala

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that ADASUVE inhalation powder, pre-dispensed (loxapine) is now available in Guatemala. This approval represents the first ADASUVE approval in Latin America for Ferrer and Alexza.

8 Aug 2014

Web-based psychological self-help may aid bipolar patients

A web-based self-management programme appears to be feasible and may be effective as an intervention for people with bipolar disorder.

7 Aug 2014

Duration of undiagnosed bipolar disorder unrelated to treatment response

The duration of undiagnosed bipolar disorder is unrelated to patients’ clinical status or their response to mood-stabilising medication, study findings indicate.

6 Aug 2014

‘Soft’ bipolar spectrum disorders differ from depression

The neurocognitive function of patients with major depression who fall into the “soft” bipolar spectrum resembles that of patients with bipolar II disorder rather than those with unipolar depression, say researchers.

31 Jul 2014

Depressive bipolar patients have highest post-discharge suicide risk

Patients hospitalised with bipolar disorder are at the greatest risk of suicide immediately after discharge, and the rate at which the risk declines depends on the illness phase, Finnish researchers report.

30 Jul 2014