Troubled children diagnosed with bipolar disorder may fare better with a different diagnosis, according to researchers at The Hastings Center. The researchers support an emerging approach, which gives many of those children a new diagnosis called Severe Mood Dysregulation (SMD) or Temper Dysregulation Disorder with Dysphoria (TDD). The findings come soon after proposed revisions to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) were opened to public comment…

Obecure Ltd., a subsidiary of Bio-Light Israeli Life Science Investments Ltd. (TASE:BOLT), has received notice of allowance from the US Patent Office for its two key patent applications covering methods of use and compositions covering the use of betahistine with olanzapine for the mitigation of the serious weight gain associated as a side effect of the antipsychotic drug. Obecure is focused on development of Histalean® (high dose betahistine) as adjunctive to antipsychotic drug therapy for improved treatment of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression…

Research suggests that religious belief can help protect against symptoms of depression, but a study at Rush University Medical Center goes one step further. In patients diagnosed with clinical depression, belief in a concerned God can improve response to medical treatment, according to a paper in the Journal of Clinical Psychology. A total of 136 adults diagnosed with major depression or bipolar depression at inpatient and outpatient psychiatric care facilities in Chicago participated in the study…

Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder affect tens of millions of individuals around the world. These disorders have a typical onset in the early twenties and in most cases have a chronic or recurring course. Neither disorder has an objective biological marker than can be used to make diagnoses or to guide treatment…

For people with bipolar I disorder*, for whom long-term therapy is clinically indicated, both combination therapy with lithium plus valproate and lithium monotherapy are more likely to prevent relapse than is valproate monotherapy. This benefit seems to be irrespective of baseline severity of illness and is maintained for up to 2 years. These are the conclusions of the BALANCE study, published Online First (www.thelancet.com) and in an upcoming Lancet, written by Professor John R Geddes, Clinical Trials Unit for Mental Illness, University of Oxford, UK, and colleagues..

For people with bipolar I disorder*, for whom long-term therapy is clinically indicated, both combination therapy with lithium plus valproate and lithium monotherapy are more likely to prevent relapse than is valproate monotherapy. This benefit seems to be irrespective of baseline severity of illness and is maintained for up to 2 years.

Despite government warnings about an increased risk of suicidal thoughts and actions while taking antiepileptic drugs, these medications do not appear to be associated with increased risk of suicide attempts in individuals with bipolar disorder, and may have a possible protective effect, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals…

AstraZeneca (NYSE: AZN) announced that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved once-daily SEROQUEL XR® (quetiapine fumarate) Extended Release Tablets as adjunctive (add-on) treatment to antidepressants in adults with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). SEROQUEL XR is the only medication in its class approved by the FDA to treat both major depressive disorder as adjunctive therapy and acute depressive episodes associated with bipolar disorder as monotherapy.(1)(2) MDD affects approximately 14…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Zyprexa® (olanzapine) in tablet form as an option for the treatment of schizophrenia and manic or mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adolescents aged 13-17 years old. The updated Zyprexa label states that clinicians should take into consideration the increased potential for weight gain and hyperlipidemia in adolescents compared to adults and the potential for long-term risks, which in many cases, may lead them to consider prescribing other drugs first in adolescents…

Once again, the National Bipolar Foundation and the MedicAlert Foundation receive a proclamation endorsing their “Safe ’til Stable” program, which is now being widely accepted as a preventive health care measure for bipolar disorder. Today, the National Bipolar Foundation received a proclamation of endorsement via Federal Express Priority Mail from the Lt. Governor of Louisiana Mitch Landrieu.