Bipolar Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Bipolar, including details on bipolar disorder, symptoms, treatment, depression, medication.

A pilot study of hormone modulation as a new treatment for mania in women with bipolar affective disorder.

Kulkarni J, Garland KA, Scaffidi A, Headey B, Anderson R, de Castella A, Fitzgerald P, Davis SR

Alfred Psychiatry Research Centre, The Alfred Hospital, Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria 3004, Australia. jayashri.kulkarni@med.monash.edu.au

We tested and compared the use of two adjunctive hormonal agents, tamoxifen and medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), for the treatment of acute mania or hypomania. A total of 13 women with acute Bipolar Affective Disorder in the manic or hypomanic phase were recruited from a clinical population to participate in this 28-day, three-arm, double blind, placebo-controlled study. The women who received tamoxifen exhibited significant improvement in symptoms of mania from baseline to final assessment compared with the placebo group. The MPA group improved more than the placebo group. Further exploration of tamoxifen as a useful adjunct in the treatment of acute manic symptoms in women with Bipolar Affective Disorder is warranted.

Published 14 March 2006 in Psychoneuroendocrinology, 31(4): 543-7.
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