Bipolar Disorder News and Research

Latest Bipolar Disorder News and Research

Alexza enters into agreement with institutional investors to raise $19.7 million

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement with various institutional investors to raise $19.7 million in a private placement of its common stock.

1 Oct 2009

Pfeiffer Treatment Center opens new Alzheimer’s care center in Illinois

Pfeiffer Treatment Center proudly announces that it has opened the Pfeiffer Center for Alzheimer’s care in Illinois.

1 Oct 2009

Patients with serious mental illness need to be treated for physical and mental health

New research backs up the demand to integrate psychiatric care with primary care services for people with serious mental disorders in Ontario, according to a study published today. "Patients need their care providers to close that gap," says lead author Dr. Russell Callaghan of the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) in Toronto.

1 Oct 2009

Participants seek depression treatment post initial screening, according to NDSD study

Screening for Mental Health, Inc., the leading nonprofit provider of online and in-person mental health screening programs, today released results from a follow-up study of participants in the 2008 National Depression Screening Day® (NDSD) online program.

1 Oct 2009

Manic-depression not a lifelong disorder

Bipolar disorder, or manic-depression, causes severe and unusual shifts in mood and energy, affecting a person's ability to perform everyday tasks. With symptoms often starting in early adulthood, bipolar disorder has been thought of traditionally as a lifelong disorder. Now, University of Missouri researchers have found evidence that nearly half of those diagnosed between the ages of 18 and 25 may outgrow the disorder by the time they reach 30.

30 Sep 2009

NHGRI and NIMH fund $45 million to establish Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science

The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) and National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), both part of the National Institutes of Health, today announced grants expected to total approximately $45 million to establish new Centers of Excellence in Genomic Science at the Medical College of Wisconsin and University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill as well as to continue support of existing centers at Johns Hopkins University and the University of Southern California.

29 Sep 2009

Research study examines the link between neuregulin 1 gene and creativity

In order to examine the link between psychosis and creativity, psychiatrist Szabolcs K-ri of Semmelweis University in Hungary focused his research on neuregulin 1, a gene that normally plays a role in a variety of brain processes, including development and strengthening communication between neurons. However, a variant of this gene (or genotype) is associated with a greater risk of developing mental disorders, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

29 Sep 2009

NIH awards Johns Hopkins Epigenetic Center $16.8M to advance genomics research

Johns Hopkins' Center for the Epigenetics of Common Human Disease has been chosen as one of four recipients of a $45 million National Institutes of Health (NIH) grant for Centers of Excellence to advance genomics research. The Hopkins Center will receive $16.8 million over five years.

29 Sep 2009

DISC1 linked to proper development and migration of neurons in the brain

Scientists now have a better understanding of a perplexing gene that is associated with susceptibility for a wide spectrum of severely debilitating mental illnesses. Two independent research studies published by Cell Press in the September 24th issue of the journal Neuron provide fascinating insight into the molecular mechanisms that link disrupted-in-schizophrenia 1 (DISC1) with the proper development and migration of neurons in the hippocampus, a brain area involved in learning and memory and associated with the pathology of schizophrenia.

24 Sep 2009

Late diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and adults

75% of the cases of paediatric bipolar disorder are diagnosed late - up to 18 months - due to the symptoms manifesting themselves in a different manner depending on whether the patient is a child or adult. Moreover, 25% of sufferers have a delay in their medical diagnoses of up to three years and four months, according to a study by the Department of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology at the University Hospital of Navarra, in collaboration with the Paediatric Psychopharmacology Unit at the l Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University (Boston, United States).

22 Sep 2009

Bioscience Research offers mental health care at no cost

Psychiatrists at Bioscience Research, LLC, understand the mental health burden that can accompany unemployment and the day-to-day stress of looking for a new job or worrying about losing an existing job.

22 Sep 2009

Bipolar disorder patients impaired in work, family and social life

In a review by a group of Spanish investigators in the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics what happens in terms of functioning and disability to patients with bipolar disorder is described.

22 Sep 2009

NIH to fund grants for epigenetic research

The National Institutes of Health announced today that it will fund 22 grants on genome-wide studies of how epigenetic changes -- chemical modifications to genes that result from diet, aging, stress, or environmental exposures -- define and contribute to specific human diseases and biological processes.

17 Sep 2009

Andersonville Arts Weekend art sales proceeds to support HIV-affected families

During the Arts weekend, over 25 of Olmetti's works and installations will be featured at SIR Spa. Proceeds from art sales will benefit the Chicago House, in support pf the mission of Chicago House and Social Service Agency to provide housing and supportive services to HIV-affected families and individuals who may also be impacted by poverty, homelessness, substance abuse, and mental illness.

15 Sep 2009

Preliminary results of Phase 2b clinical trial of AZ-104 announced by Alexza Pharmaceuticals

Alexza Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALXA) today announced preliminary results from its 366 patient Phase 2b clinical trial of AZ-104 (Staccato(R) loxapine) in patients with migraine headache.

14 Sep 2009

Final results of SAPHRIS clinical study released

Schering-Plough Corporation today reported final results of a SAPHRIS(R) (asenapine) long-term schizophrenia relapse prevention clinical study.

14 Sep 2009

Cymbalta maintains reduction in pain for patients with chronic low back pain

New data show patients with chronic low back pain on Cymbalta(R) (duloxetine HCl) maintained reductions in pain for 41 weeks. In patients who initially responded to duloxetine, this maintenance of pain reduction was accompanied by further reduction in pain that was statistically significant as measured by the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain rating.

11 Sep 2009

New protocol to tackle postpartum depression

Up to 80 percent of women experience depressive symptoms postpartum, with one in eight reporting the emergence of major depression within weeks of delivery.

10 Sep 2009

Brown University neuroscience professor awarded EUREKA grant

Brown University neuroscience professor Gilad Barnea will receive a nearly $1.3 million, four-year federal grant toward development of a method to selectively monitor the activation of each of the five receptors for the neurotransmitter dopamine in the brain.

4 Sep 2009

Pfizer pleads guilty of defrauding Medicare, Medicaid and other government-funded health care programs

Pfizer, Inc. announced today it has agreed to plead guilty to criminal conduct and to pay more than $2 billion in criminal and civil fines, penalties and damages to settle allegations made in multiple whistleblower lawsuits that the pharmaceutical giant defrauded Medicare, Medicaid and other government-funded health care programs in connection with its market practices for four of its drugs. The settlement is the largest qui tam settlement in U.S. history.

3 Sep 2009