Ketamine may relieve depression quickly for those with treatment-resistant bipolar disorder

A single intravenous dose of the anesthetic agent ketamine appears to reduce symptoms of depression within 40 minutes among those with bipolar disorder who have not responded to other treatments, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Read more

New link identified for bipolar disorder

Possible mechanism identified for how lithium treats bipolar disorcer

Lithium has been established for more than 50 years as one of the most effective treatments for manic depression, clinically termed bipolar disorder.

Read more

MSU researcher identifies links between hypertension, bipolar disorders

Contact: Jason Cody
codyja@msu.edu
517-432-0924
Michigan State University Read more

Is it really bipolar disorder?

Contact: Nancy Cawley Jean
njean@lifespan.org
Lifespan

New study finds widely used screening scale misidentifies borderline personality disorder as bipolar disorder

Read more

Faulty body clock may make kids bipolar

Malfunctioning circadian clock genes may be responsible for bipolar disorder in children. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Psychiatry found four versions of the regulatory gene RORB that were associated with pediatric bipolar disorder.

Read more

New light on bipolar treatment drugs

Potential mechanism identified for Lithium operation in the brain

Lithium has been established for more than 50 years as one of the most effective treatments for bipolar mood disorder.

Read more

Gene Hunt Hints at Cause of Bipolar Disorder

A gene hunt among more than 4,000 British, Irish and American patients suffering from bipolar disorder has turned up two genes that put new emphasis on a possible cause of the disease.

Both genes are involved in ion channels, the minute pores in nerve cells which let charged atoms rush in and out. This is the heart of the process that sends an electrical signal from one end of the nerve to the other.

Read more

The yin and yang of genes for mood disorders

Individual genes do not cause depression, but they are thought to increase the probability of an individual having a depression in the face of other accumulating risk factors, such as other genes and environmental stressors. One gene that has been shown to increase the risk for depression in the context of multiple stressful life events is the gene for the serotonin transporter protein. This gene is responsible for making the protein that is targeted by all current drug treatments for depression. In a number of studies it has been shown that people who inherit one form of this gene, called SLC6A4, are at up to four times the risk of depression if they experience unusual stresses in their lives. Basic science experiments and imaging studies in normal people suggest that the way this form of the gene affects risk for depression is by impacting on the development of a system in the brain that mediates how negative environmental stresses and threats feel. The effects of this serotonin gene on this brain system are thought to occur early in development, where the shaping of brain systems related to how the environment is experienced emotionally is critically determined.

Read more

Tamoxifen may help treat mania in patients with bipolar disorder

A small, three-week trial of tamoxifen, a drug typically used to treat breast cancer, indicates that it also may decrease symptoms of mania in patients with bipolar disorder, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Read more

ABILIFY approved for acute treatment of bipolar I disorder in patients 10 to 17 years old

Otsuka-sponsored study evaluated use of ABILIFY for the acute treatment of manic and mixed episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in pediatric patients 10 to 17 years of age

Read more

Next Page »