Writer/Psychiatrist Wanted!
Bipolar Network News is looking for a psychiatrist who would be interested in helping our editor-in-chief, Robert M. Post, write articles reviewing new research presentations and publications on mood disorders.
This is not a paid position, but a candidate would receive expenses for travel to major psychiatric meetings and would be cited as part of the editorial staff. Read more
Lurasidone Highly Effective in Open Continuation in Youth with Schizophrenia
Researcher Michael Tocco and colleagues reported at the 2019 meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) that in adolescents between the ages of 13 and 17 with schizophrenia, taking lurasidone for two years following a double-blind, placebo-controlled study led to steady improvement. There was a remarkably high 91% response rate and a 66% remission rate. Out of all the participants, 51.3% were rated as recovered.
Improvement in Bipolar Depression on Open-Label Lurasidone
Researcher Katherine Burdick and colleagues of Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital and Harvard University reported in a poster at the 2019 meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (AACAP) that youth between the ages of 10 and 17 with bipolar depression who continued taking lurasidone on a non-blind basis following a double-blind placebo-controlled six-week trial of the drug, or those who began taking lurasidone (for those who had been in the placebo group during the trial) saw improvement over a period of one to two years. All of the patients began the extension portion of the study at a dose of 20 mg/day.
Lurasidone appeared to be effective and well-tolerated. In addition, Burdick and colleagues reported a lack of cognitive difficulties in the youth taking lurasidone. Interestingly, a measure of visual learning substantially and progressively improved over the course of the study.
