MSD (MSD is a tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., with headquarters in Whitehouse Station, N.J., U.S.A). announced today that the European Commission has approved the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for SYCREST® (asenapine) sublingual tablets for the treatment of moderate to severe manic episodes associated with bipolar I disorder in adults...

The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) is providing a new dimension to its Hearts & Minds initiative, an educational program that promotes "mind and body" health practices for individuals who live with mental illness...

Forest Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: FRX) and Gedeon Richter Plc. today announced preliminary top-line results from an 8-week Phase II clinical trial of the novel, investigational antipsychotic agent cariprazine for the treatment of bipolar depression. Cariprazine is currently undergoing Phase III trials for separate indications of schizophrenia and bipolar mania...

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the increased generic erosion of key drugs such as lamotrigine (GlaxoSmithKline's Lamictal, generics) and divalproex (Abbott/Sanofi-Aventis's Depakote/Abbott's Depakote ER, generics), combined with projected generic erosion of the atypical antipsychoti...

Interviews with members of more than 5,000 representative U.S. households as part of the National Comorbidity Survey Replication found that nearly 40 percent of those with major depressive disorder may actually have subthreshold hypomania, defined as a discrete period of increased energy, activity, and euphoria or irritability that is not related to impairment in daily activities...

Interest and awareness about bipolar disorder are slowly shifting, largely due to emerging treatments and research, according to an article in a supplement to the current edition of the Medical Journal of Australia...

NICE is currently developing a clinical guideline on the assessment and management of psychosis with co-existing substance misuse in adults and young people. As part of this process, draft recommendations have been published on the NICE website for public consultation...

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warned that the drug Lamictal (lamotrigine), approved to treat seizures and bipolar disorder, can cause aseptic meningitis, an inflammation of the protective membranes (meninges) that cover the brain and spinal cord not caused by bacterial infection...

Lamictal (Lamotrigine), a medication approved by the FDA for the treatment of seizures and bipolar disorder, can cause aseptic meningitis, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has announced. Aseptic meningitis is inflammation of the meninges - the protective membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord, not caused by bacterial infection...

Each month, PSA releases an online presentation, developed with experts in the specific clinical area covered to ensure the latest evidence is brought to PSA members using these education tools. The modules are delivered in four 15-minute units and are specifically designed for the busy pharmacist to allow flexibility in what and when they access the information...

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...

Today, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) is proud to announce the release of the new Parents' Medication Guide for Bipolar Disorder in Children & Adolescents. The guide was developed by AACAP to give reliable information about medication used to treat bipolar disorder in children and adolescents to parents whose children have been diagnosed with the illness...

New research presented today shows that hospital stays for people with Bipolar Disorder cost taxpayers £207 million a year[i]. According to the research, sponsored by AstraZeneca, the NHS spends just 7% (£25 million) of the total costs for Bipolar Disorder on medicines versus 60% on hospital admissionsi...

Scientists are reporting a possible explanation for the bone loss that may occur following long-term use of a medicine widely used to treat epilepsy, bipolar disorder, and other conditions. The drug, valproate, appears to reduce the formation of two key proteins important for bone strength, they said...

Scientists are making progress towards a better understanding of the neuropathology associated with debilitating psychiatric illnesses like bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. New research, published by Cell Press in the July 15 issue of the journal Neuron, reveals mechanisms that connect a known psychiatric risk gene to disruptions in brain cell proliferation and migration during development...

Better treatment for people with bipolar disease and other mental illnesses is likely to come from properly tested combinations of existing therapies, according to leading psychiatry researcher Professor John Geddes...

A single MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scan may soon help hundreds of thousands of people with bipolar disorder to get a faster, more accurate - and possibly life-saving - diagnosis, a leading researcher reported at the Royal College of Psychiatrists' International Congress...

Nearly half of patients hospitalized with bipolar disorder may suffer from hypertension, and the younger a person is diagnosed with the psychiatric condition the more likely they are to develop high blood pressure, according to a recent Michigan State University study...

Full-Service Partnerships (FSPs) are designed to do 'whatever it takes' to improve residential stability and mental health outcomes for homeless persons with serious mental illness. They are the cornerstone of California's Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) - one of the largest mental health policy experiments in recent history...

Lithium is the most effective treatment for bipolar disorder. However, its use is limited because of neurological side effects and a risk for overdose-induced toxicity. Many of the beneficial effects of lithium are mediated by its inhibition of GSK-3 proteins, but whether this is the mechanism underlying its negative effects has not been determined...