Manic Depression Disorder
Latest Medications for Bipolar Affective
Disorder (manic depression disorder)
Bipolar affective disorder, also known as
manic depression disorder, is a mental illness that causes the patient to
experience mood swings or mood cycling, involving depressive episodes, mania
episodes, and/or mixed episodes. There are many treatment options for bipolar
affective disorder. The most successful treatments are a combination of
medications and counseling or therapy.
cause of bipolar affective disorder
Within the last five years there have been several substantial breakthroughs in
research toward finding the true biological cause of bipolar affective
disorder. This research has lead to the development of several new bipolar
affective disorder medications. A few of the more popular latest medications
for bipolar affective disorder are described below.
Abilify, or Aripiprazole
An a typical anti-psychotic. It was
approved for treatment of manic and mixed bipolar disorder episodes in 2004,
and further approved as a maintenance medication for bipolar disorder in 2005.
While most anti-psychotic medications work by shutting down dopamine receptors
in the brain, Abilify works by making the dopamine receptors behave more
normally. This stabilization makes this latest medication the ideal treatment
for bipolar affective disorder.
Celexa
An antidepressant that has been around for
several years. However, it has been used with increasingly more frequency in
the last few years for the treatment of bipolar affective disorder. This is due
to the fact that Celexa has proven to be more selective than other
anti-depressants. This essentially means that with Celexa, fewer bipolar
patients need a mood stabilizer to prevent the antidepressant from sending them
zooming into a manic episode. It has been extremely successful as a maintenance
medication for bipolar affective disorder.
Geodon
An anti-psychotic that works as a mood
stabilizer in bipolar affective disorder patients. The most exciting thing
about this latest mood stabilizer medication is that it is not associated with
weight gain. It works in much the same way as Zyprexa, which has been proven to
be a very successful medication for the treatment of bipolar affective
disorder. However, unlike Zyprexa, side effects are fewer, milder, and do not include
weight gain!
Wellbutrin
Also sold as Zyban, was originally developed
as a medication to help people stop smoking, in which it has been quite
successful. In recent years, however, it has been discovered, quite by
accident, that it is even more successful as an antidepressant when used as a
medication for bipolar affective disorder. Chemically, it is unrelated to any
other antidepressant, and it is unknown why it works so well with bipolar
patients. One advantage to Wellbutrin is that it is a weight stable medication,
meaning that patients will typically not see weight gain or weight loss.
As the technology and research progresses, more effective medications for
bipolar affective disorder are bound to be developed. Successful treatment of
bipolar affective disorder is the goal of many researchers, psychologists, and
psychiatrists. Discuss treatment options with your doctor often, and keep track
of the latest developments in medications for bipolar affective disorder, so
that you can appreciate the benefits of successful treatment for your bipolar
affective disorders
