Bipolar Disorder News and Research

Latest Bipolar Disorder News and Research

Cerebellar cortical volume reduction specific to schizophrenia

Reduced cerebellar cortical volume occurs only in patients with schizophrenia, rather than all those with psychosis, say researchers.

10 Dec 2014

Quitting cannabis use during manic episodes improves outcomes

A post-hoc analysis of data from a prospective European study reveals that patients with bipolar disorder who stop using cannabis during a manic or mixed episode have similar clinical and functional outcomes to those who have never used the drug.

9 Dec 2014

UC Berkeley study finds self-worth key to diagnoses of psychopathologies

Donald Trump's ego may be the size of his financial empire, but that doesn't mean he's the picture of mental health. The same can be said about the self-esteem of people who are living from paycheck to paycheck, or unemployed. New research from the University of California, Berkeley, underscores this mind-wallet connection.

8 Dec 2014

New study investigates rate of HIV testing in patients with mental illnesses

People with mental illness are more likely to have been tested for HIV than those without mental illness, according to a new study from a team of researchers at Penn Medicine and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published online this week in AIDS Patient Care and STDs.

5 Dec 2014

Depressive episodes hard to treat in continuous cycling bipolar disorder

Patients with bipolar disorder who switch directly between mania and depression without a period of euthymia have a poor response to short-term antidepressant treatment, study findings indicate.

3 Dec 2014

EMAHSN extends IPS scheme to support people with mental health illness

The 8 December will see the first step in an East Midlands wide approach to supporting people with mental health illness back in to work or education. The East Midlands Academic Health Science Network is championing and extending a widely proven scheme called Individual Placement and Support (IPS) across the region.

28 Nov 2014

Better Care for People with Bipolar Disorder: A new booklet to be launched in December 2014

Bipolar Disorder is in the top 20 causes of years lost due to illness in the world among all health conditions. It affects 1.4% of the population and lasts for the rest of the person’s life. People diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder are 20 times more likely than the general public to commit suicide. In 2007 service provision costs for Bipolar Disorder and related conditions were estimated to be £1.6 billion. This is projected to increase to £2.6 billion by 2026.

28 Nov 2014

Lithium therapy duration not linked to thyroid effects

The risk of altered thyroid function does not increase with duration of lithium treatment in patients with bipolar disorder, research suggests.

27 Nov 2014

Researchers uncover easily detectable, 'pre-malignant' state in the blood

Researchers from the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Harvard Medical School, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals have uncovered an easily detectable, "pre-malignant" state in the blood that significantly increases the likelihood that an individual will go on to develop blood cancers such as leukemia, lymphoma, or myelodysplastic syndrome.

27 Nov 2014

Study shows how mentally ill women in India go through a vicious cycle

An award-winning study by a Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine researcher has documented how homeless, mentally ill women in India face a vicious cycle

26 Nov 2014

Aequus Pharmaceuticals closes $4.2M private placement offering of special warrants

Aequus Pharmaceuticals Inc. (the "Company" or "Aequus") is pleased to announce that it has closed a brokered private placement offering (the "Brokered Offering") of special warrants for approximately C$3.7 million.

21 Nov 2014

Childhood affective features may guide adult psychiatric diagnosis

Clinical features that can appear many years ahead of a psychiatric diagnosis may help doctors to predict whether patients will develop bipolar disorder or unipolar depression, say researchers.

20 Nov 2014

People treated with lithium drug are at risk of acute kidney damage

People with bipolar disorder who are being treated with the drug lithium are at risk of acute kidney damage and need careful monitoring, according to new research from the University of East Anglia (UEA) and Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust.

14 Nov 2014

Pathological guilt in preschool years linked to brain changes, increases risk for recurrent depression

In school-age children previously diagnosed with depression as preschoolers, a key brain region involved in emotion is smaller than in their peers who were not depressed, scientists have shown.

14 Nov 2014

Bipolar mixed episodes increase significantly under DSM-5

Using the most recent diagnostic criteria increases the prevalence of mixed features in patients with bipolar disorder more than threefold, study findings indicate.

13 Nov 2014

Suicidal ideation link to suicide strong in schizophrenia spectrum disorders

The association between suicidal ideation and later suicide is much stronger in patients with schizophrenia spectrum psychosis than in those with mood disorders, show results of a systematic meta-analysis.

13 Nov 2014

Scientists receive NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants for mental health research

The Brain & Behavior Research Foundation today announced the award of NARSAD Distinguished Investigator Grants valued at $1.5 million to 15 scientists, who are full professors or the equivalent, conducting innovative projects in diverse areas of neurobiological and behavioral research.

13 Nov 2014

Metabolic syndrome screening in bipolar disorder warranted

The frequency of the metabolic syndrome in patients with bipolar disorder warrants systematic screening, say researchers, particularly among men, older patients and those receiving atypical antipsychotic treatment.

12 Nov 2014

Experts review advances in understanding, treatment of bipolar disorder

Several lines of research have opened exciting new frontiers in scientific understanding and clinical management of bipolar disorder. Recent advances in bipolar disease research are described in this month's special issue of Harvard Review of Psychiatry.

11 Nov 2014

Mice may hold clues in development of ADHD, autism and bipolar disorder

A darting mouse may hold an important clue in the development of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), autism and bipolar disorder, according to a study by a Vanderbilt University-led research team recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

11 Nov 2014