Lamictal doesn & # 039; t cause weight gain in patients ...

May 5, 2004 - The results of an analysis presented today shows that the long-term treatment with Lamictal (R) (lamotrigine) is not associated with clinically significant changes in weight, if a patient experiences bipolar disorder type I used in comparison to placebo. The results were presented at the 157th Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in New York NY.

Reports of data on the long-term effects of mood stabilizers on body weight. Weight gain is a concern for psychiatrists and patients in long-term treatment of bipolar disorder. It has been reported that side effects such as weight gain drug may have a negative impact on compliance. In fact, adherence to treatment as an essential component of long-term treatment of bipolar disorder.

Researchers analyzed data from retrospective weight of patients with bipolar I disorder in two studies of 18 months conservation Lamictal, lithium, and placebo. The analysis showed that in patients who received placebo and Lamotrigine, a small proportion of patients clinically significant changes in weight-to-weight and adverse events. In addition, receive no statistically significant difference in weight between the patients who received placebo during the study and Lamictal. For patients, the lithium, the study found that body weight decreased with time and after a year of treatment, patients moderate weight gain, but no statistically significant difference from placebo.

"This study shows that weight gain is not part of the treatment for people with bipolar disorder type I," said Gary Sachs, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School professor and director, bipolar disorder, and clinical research in Massachusetts. General Hospital "This is good news for type I bipolar disorder concerned about weight gain to treatment for patients."

Lamictal has the approval of the Administration of the United States Food and Drug Administration in June 2003 for the maintenance treatment of bipolar I disorder to delay the time to occurrence of episodes of mood (depression, mania, hypomania, mixed episodes) in patients treated for acute mood episodes with standard therapy. The effectiveness of Lamictal in the acute treatment of mood episodes has not been established.

Background on bipolar disorder

Bipolar I disorder is characterized by the occurrence of one or more manic or mixed episodes and often people had one or more episodes of major depression; in bipolar II disorder, a person experiences one or more episodes of major depression and hypomania (a milder form of mania with less severe symptoms). If manic and depressive symptoms overlap for a period of time, it is a consequence of "mixed" means. In general, the predominant structure of the bipolar affective disorder, manic more.

Bipolar disorder is a chronic illness; Effective and well-tolerated maintenance is essential for the management of the disease. Bipolar disorder is often misdiagnosed, usually major depressive disorder. Inadequate treatment due to misdiagnosis may have an adverse effect in patients who may accelerate the natural course of the disease. If left untreated, bipolar disorder can worsen and the patient may experience more frequent events.