CLEVELAND, July 1 (UPI) -- Researchers have shown that a single drug therapy may be effective in treating both the manic and depressive phases of bipolar disorder.
Usually, a combination of drugs is used to manage bipolar disorder symptoms for the approximately 8 million Americans with the ailment.
But, the new study, published in the July issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, reports on the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel as a possible buffer against both phases.
Usually, anti-psychotic medications are not used as specific treatments for bipolar depression.
Dr. Joseph R. Calabrese, principal investigator and director of the National Institute of Mental Health Bipolar Research Center, led the randomized trial of 542 patients with bipolar depression at 39 sites in the United States.
Seroquel is currently approved for the short-term treatment of acute manic episodes in bipolar disorder and the treatment of schizophrenia.
