Active clinical trials for "Bipolar Disorder"

This study will compare two different antidepressant treatment regimens to determine which is more effective in reducing symptoms of bipolar depression.

We hope to learn whether this stimulation of neurons in the front part of the brain may relieve depression.

Aim: In a population of first episode manic patients with psychotic features, we want to compare the side effect profile, the degree of adherence and the subjective well being, as well as the efficacy of two treatments: The standard treatment currently applied (lithium + chlorpromazine) and an alternative treatment more recently introduced (lithium + olanzapine). In addition, we want to study retrospectively the development of bipolar disorder and study prospectively the 6 and 12-month outcome of a cohort of patients presenting a first manic episode with psychotic features. Research Background: While the efficacy of lithium in the treatment of acute mania has been established by numerous studies, it is also known that up to 50% of the patients fail to respond when it is prescribed alone. It is therefore common practice to complement the treatment, most commonly with antipsychotics and benzodiazepines. It has been suggested that antipsychotic agents are faster acting and are superior in controlling hyperactivity compared to lithium, whereas mood stabilisation is better achieved by lithium, Typical antipsychotics, such as chlorpromazine, may therefore be useful as adjunctive medication to mood stabilisers, especially within the first few weeks of treatment of acute mania, and for patients exhibiting psychotic symptoms or hyperactivity. They however can induce side effects (somnolence, dizziness, dry mouth, extrapyramidal side effects such as rigidity of the muscles, and possibly tardive dyskinesia (involuntary movements or contraction of muscles), as well as akathysia (sense of restlessness). They finally have been suspected to contribute to the occurrence of post-manic depression. Recent publications in chronic populations have shown that atypical antipsychotics, such as olanzapine, are also an effective adjunctive treatment. Olanzapine has the important advantage to induce a very low incidence of extrapyramidal side effects, including tardive dyskinesia. It can however induce somnolence, dizziness, dry mouth, and rather commonly weight gain. Moreover, some authors have reported that olanzapine might induce mania. Both treatments appear then to have positive effects as well as undesirable side effects. Our project is to compare them. The literature concerning first episode mania is sparse, particularly in the domain of pharmacotherapy. One retrospective study showed that 77% of the patients received antipsychotics at discharge and 25% at 6 months follow-up. No comparison has however been made between typical and atypical antipsychotics, and there are no specific treatment guidelines of first episode mania with psychotic features. Project Summary: The hypothesis is that olanzapine and chlorpromazine will have a comparable efficacy as adjunctive treatment of the acute manic episode with psychotic features. We however think olanzapine will induce less side effects and will be better accepted by the patients, and therefore that the adherence to the treatment will be better than with chlorpromazine. We finally think the subjective sense of well being will be greater with olanzapine than with chlorpromazine.We will recruit 75 patients at the time of their first admission for mania with psychotic features at EPPIC. After signature of the informed consent, we will perform a baseline assessment first to confirm the diagnosis, and second to evaluate the level of psychopathology. The patients will then be randomly selected to receive either a treatment of lithium and olanzapine or a treatment of lithium and chlorpromazine. By the end of the study there will be 37 patients in each group.The patients will go through a baseline assessment including physical examination and usual laboratory investigation to exclude any physical illness. They will also go through a one-hour assessment of psychopathology. Between day 2 and 3 they will go through 2 hours of interview to reassess diagnosis and personal history. They will thereafter be assessed weekly for eight weeks on various dimensions: evolution of the intensity of the symptoms, appearance of depressive symptoms, occurrence of side effects and degree of adherence to the treatment, in an 1-hour interview. Subjective well being and quality of life will re evaluated at week 4 and 8, adding 45 minutes to the duration of the interview. This is a flexible dose, open trial, which means the doctor in charge of the patient will know which medication is being prescribed, and that he will be allowed to adapt the dosage according to what he feels necessary. This research project will allow us to organise a more specialised clinic for the care of first episode manic patients. We will take this opportunity to study carefully the months preceding the appearance of the first episode in order to try to reconstruct the prodrome of bipolar disorders. We will also, in an extension phase of the study, look at the long term outcome (at 6 and 12 months) of a first episode of mania.

This is an open-labeled study of Divalproex Sodium Extended Release (Depakote ER), testing its efficacy for the treatment of mania in children between the ages of 6-12 who have been diagnosed with Bipolar I, Bipolar II, and Bipolar Spectrum Disorders. This is an exploratory, pilot study, seeking to determine whether Divalproex Sodium Extended Release is efficacious and well tolerated in the treatment of youth with pediatric bipolar and bipolar spectrum disorder, and the study results will be used to generate hypotheses for a larger randomized controlled clinical trial with explicit hypotheses and sufficient statistical power.

This is an open-label pilot study of up to 1200 mg/day of carbamazepine ER (Equetro) in the treatment of children who meet DSM-IV criteria for Bipolar I, Bipolar II, or Bipolar Spectrum Disorder. The main goal of this study is to begin to address the void of information on safety, tolerability and effectiveness of Equetro in the treatment of Pediatric Bipolar Disorder.

The objective of this study is to investigate the safety and effectiveness of Concerta in the treatment of children (ages 5 to 17 years old) and adults (ages 18 to 55 years old) with Bipolar I, Bipolar II and Bipolar Spectrum Disorder and comorbid ADHD over 8 weeks. This study seeks to study the short-term effectiveness of a long acting formulation of methylphenidate (Concerta) in the treatment of children and adults with bipolar disorder and comorbid ADHD adequately stabilized on an acceptable and stable regimen of anti-mania agents.

Bipolar disorder is characterized by mood swings that range from high (manic) to low (depressed) states. Sometimes, symptoms of both depression and mania are present (mixed episodes). Asenapine is an investigational medication for the treatment of manic or mixed episodes of bipolar disorder. This is a 3-week study that will test the safety and efficacy of this medication. Patients will receive either asenapine, olanzapine (a medication that is already approved for the treatment of bipolar mania), or placebo (no active medication). Patients will be required to stay in the hospital for at least the first seven days of treatment. Patients that complete the 3 week study may be eligible to continue in extension studies for an additional 9 (study A7501006) to 49 (study A7501007) weeks.

Bipolar disorder is a psychiatric illness with clinical characteristics of mixed mania, grandiose delusions, and suicidality. This study will investigate the efficacy a safety of oxcarbazepine in the treatment of patients with bipolar disorder type I or II.

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy and safety of SPD417 in treating bipolar manic symptoms, when given once daily in the evening vs. twice daily.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the safety of SPD417 when given with other psychotropic medications to treat bipolar I disorder.