Baldessarini and Vieta Head Discussions on Improved Treatments for Bipolar Depression During ISCTM 5th Annual Meeting

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A half-day symposium, chaired by Ross J. Baldessarini, MD, Harvard Medical School and Eduard Vieta, M.D., Ph.D., University of Barcelona, on development of improved treatments for bipolar depression was held on March 3, 2009, at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology (ISCTM) in Arlington, VA. Other speakers were Joseph Calabrese, M.D., Case-Western University and Mauricio Tohen, M.D., Dr.P.H., University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. Commentary and discussion were led by Charles Bowden, M.D., also of the University of Texas at San Antonio.

Interest in bipolar (manic-depressive) forms of depressive illness is growing greatly, along with recognition that standard treatments for unipolar major depressive disorder are much less effective for the short-term treatment of bipolar depression, and provide very limited protection against recurrences of depressions, compared to adult unipolar depressive disorders, as well as having substantial risk of inducing mania or other excited states. Patients with bipolar depression also have high rates of co-morbid abuse or alcohol or drugs as well as disability, and very high risk of suicide. Current treatment options include mood-stabilizing agents, notably lithium and certain anticonvulsants, and growing use of certain modern antipsychotic drugs originally developed to treat schizophrenia. Such treatments are sometimes used in complex combinations that often include antidepressants despite their limited efficacy. Since available treatments are less than ideal for this complex and rapidly changeable disorder, the symposium addressed options for improved treatments and novel methods for testing them. Further information regarding this session and others is available on the Society website.

The ISCTM (www.isctm.org) was founded in 2004 to gather representatives of academic and clinical specialties, the pharmaceutical industry, and regulatory bodies to exchange ideas about important clinical and public-health challenges, to examine the development of novel treatments for major psychiatric and neuropsychiatric disorders, and to support advances in methods of evaluating them that are scientifically sound, ethical, and feasible.