Antipsychotics Best for Controlling Mania: Study

The manic episodes experienced by those with bipolar disorder are better controlled by antipsychotic drugs than mood stabilizers, a new, large study suggests.

Researchers from Italy and the United Kingdom also found that three antipsychotics — first-generation haloperidol (Haldol) along with later formulations of risperidone (Risperdal) and olanzapine (Zyprexa) — outperformed 11 other drugs. The scientists analyzed results from 68 randomized, controlled trials with more than 16,000 participants over a 30-year period.

Mania typically alternates with depression in those with bipolar disorder, which tends to run in families and begin between the ages of 15 and 25, according to the U.S. National Institutes of Health. Acute manic episodes — characterized by hyperactivity, racing thoughts and reckless behavior — are not experienced by all bipolar patients, but severe symptoms often require hospitalization, health officials said.

Genetic Links Seen Between Bipolar Illness and Schizophrenia

There is a genetic link between schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, two common and often disabling brain disorders, a new study indicates.

Researchers identified 11 genetic regions, including six that had never been discovered before, which play a role in people’s risk for these mental illnesses. The findings, they say, provide new insight into the causes of both conditions.

“Schizophrenia and bipolar disorder are debilitating illnesses affecting millions of people around the world, and existing therapies for these people are ineffective as long-term options,” the bipolar study’s lead author Dr. Pamela Sklar, chief of the division of psychiatric genomics in the department of psychiatry and a professor of psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, said in a news release. “We have been hard at work trying to determine genetic risk for these diseases so that we can intervene earlier and develop new therapies with which to treat them. Through this research, we are an important step closer to making that possible.”

Researchers examined the DNA of 7,481 people with bipolar disorder as well as 9,250 healthy people. In a separate study, another team of scientists evaluated the same DNA sites in more than 17,000 people with schizophrenia.

Painful Sex After Menopause? When Hormones Aren’t an Option, Some Women Consider Surgery

THURSDAY, October 6, 2011 (Health.com) — Linda Bianchini was in her mid-50s when sex with her husband became unbearably painful.

“Before I started to have discomfort, our sex life was good. I had only remarried in 2004 so, although we were middle-aged, we were still like newlyweds,” recalls Bianchini, now 57, a human resources manager at a hospital in Staten Island, N.Y. “It had been going on for at least a year, but I just did not bring it to my doctor since I thought it is just the way it is.”

Being Heavier May Mean Fewer Hot Flashes for Women Over 60

Older, heavier women tend to have fewer hot flashes than younger, leaner menopausal women, a small, new study suggests.

The study included 52 women who experienced hot flashes and were not taking medication for those symptoms.

The women’s body fat percentage, waist circumference and body mass index (BMI) were also measured, and a special skin monitor and electronic diary were used to track their hot flashes.

The result: the researchers found that higher fat levels, BMI and waist circumference were associated with fewer hot flashes. These associations were strongest among white women.

Aging, Not Menopause, Raises Women’s Heart Risks, Study Finds

There’s no link between menopause and increased risk of death from heart disease, says a study that challenges a long-held medical belief that the rate of cardiovascular death in women spikes after menopause.

Aging alone, not the hormonal impact of menopause, explains the increasing number of deaths among older women, according to the Johns Hopkins researchers.

The new findings could affect how heart health is assessed in premenopausal women, who were previously believed to have a low risk of death from heart attack, the authors pointed out in the study published in the Sept. 6 issue of the BMJ.

Factors Identified That May Raise Risk of Early Menopause

Certain factors have been found to be associated with a raised risk of early menopause, including having a chronic inflammatory disease or having one of two genes known to be linked to breast cancer, especially among those who smoke, according to two new studies.

The stud

ies were slated for presentation Tuesday at the annual meeting of the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) in Orlando, Fla.

In one study, researchers examined data from the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Risk Registry on 931 white women in the United States and found that BRCA1 and BRCA2 carriers started menopause at a much earlier age than those without the breast cancer genes — age 48 versus 53.

Use of Asthma Controller Meds on the Rise Among U.S. Kids

The percentage of children with asthma in the United States who use a prescription “controller” medicine has nearly doubled since the late 1990s, a new federal government report finds.

The analysis of data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey showed that the use of controller drugs by these children increased from 29 percent in 1997-1998 to 58 percent in 2007-2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.