Seroquel (Quetiapine) Is Effective In Treating Bipolar Disorder
Professor Eduard Vieta, Clinical Institute of Neuroscience, University of Barcelona, Spain suggests that bipolar disorder is considered to be a chronic, lifelong illness. Patients can become depressed or manic. And it is generally agreed that maintenance therapy is important and can give long-term relief from the relapses.
The data from new investigation of Seroquel medication for maintenance therapy of patients with bipolar I disorder, were presented on Sunday, 27 January 2008 at the 3rd Biennial Conference of the International Society for Bipolar Disorders (ISBD) in Delhi, India. The findings show the potential of treatment regimens which include generic Seroquel along with a mood stabilizer to lessen the probability of mood events.
Seroquel drug for bipolar disorder treatment has been prescribed to more than 25 million* patients worldwide. SEROQUEL XR (quetiapine fumarate extended release tablets) was launched for the treatment of schizophrenia in the US in 2007 and its clinical development program and extended through bipolar disorder to major depressive disorder (MDD) and generalised anxiety disorder (GAD).
The investigation of Quetiapine drug was conducted among 1334 patients who were randomised to maintenance treatment with generic Seroquel (400-800 mg/day) plus lithium or divalproex, or placebo in combination with lithium or divalproex. During 104 weeks the physicians investigated the time to recurrence of a mood event in patients with bipolar I disorder. After 12 weeks Seroquel medication combination treatment showed an evident reduction in the risk of relapse of mood (both manic and depressed) events in 70% of participants compared with placebo plus lithium or divalproex.
In general, Seroquel medicine for bipolar disorder was well tolerated. And the reported adverse events in patients treated with Quetiapine drug plus a mood stabiliser were upper respiratory tract infection, nasopharyngitis and headache. There also were reported somnolence, sedation, weight increase and dry mouth.
Therefore, the results from a new analysis have shown that receiving Seroquel 300 mg plus a mood stabiliser in treating bipolar disorder significantly reduces a mood event (manic, mixed or depressed) than taking a mood stabiliser alone.
At this time, Seroquel drug is not yet approved for bipolar maintenance treatment. However, a submission was made to the FDA in July 2007.
