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Lamotrigine Proves Effective for Bipolar Disorder: Presented at APA
By Alison Palkhivala
PHILADELPHIA, PA -- May 23, 2002 -- The anti-epileptic medication lamotrigine appears to be effective for the treatment of bipolar disorder.
This agent effectively stabilized mood in bipolar patients and significantly extended the time to onset of a bipolar depressive episode in two double-blind, placebo-controlled studies presented here this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).
Researchers enrolled 638 current or recently symptomatic patients with bipolar disorder who had previously been stabilized in preliminary phase of the studies. They randomized 280 to treatment with lamotrigine 50 mg/day to 400 mg/day, 167 to receive lithium 0.8 mEq to 1.1 mEq, and 191 to placebo for 18 months.
The research was led by Joseph R. Calabrese, MD, director of the Mood Disorders Center at the University Hospital of Cleveland and professor of psychiatry at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland, Ohio.
By the end of 18 months, 57 percent of lamotrigine patients did not require intervention for depression, compared to 51 percent of the patients treated with lithium and 40 percent of the placebo controls.
Common side effects in both treatment groups were headache, infection, nausea, somnolence, and insomnia. Patients on lithium experienced diarrhea and tremor at a higher rate than those taking lamotrigine.
Lamotrigine is currently under phase III investigation for the treatment of bipolar depression. It is already indicated for use in epilepsy.
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