29 Thus, it is possible that bipolar youth may account for some of the concerns regarding SSRIs and suicidally that eventually led to the black-box warning on all antidepressants mandated by the US FDA.30 Thus, alternative treatments need to be considered in children and adolescents with BD, perhaps even more so than for adults. While no placebo-controlled studies have yet been reported in pediatric bipolar depression, two prospective treatment studies in adolescents with bipolar depression have been reported. Chang and colleagues studied Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical the effectiveness

and tolerability of lamotrigine as mono- or adjunctive therapy in an 8-weck open-label study of 20 adolescents with BD experiencing a depressive episode.31 The authors reported statistically significant improvement in depressive symptoms, as measured by the Children’s Depression Rating Scale-Revised Version (CDRS-R). 32 Sixty-three percent of subjects were classified as responders, with at least a 50% decrease in CDRS-R score between baseline and end point, and 47% were considered Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical remitters by virtue of

a score of 24 or less on the CDRS-R and a Clinician Global Impression-Severity rating of “not ill” or “mildly ill.” Additionally, 84% of subjects showed “much” or “very much” improvement by the end of the study by the Clinical Global Impression-Improvement scale. Despite the historical risk of serious rash with lamotrigine, particularly Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical in Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical children, no serious rashes occurred in this study. Furthermore,

there was no significant weight gain. Patel and colleagues33 conducted a 6-week open-label study of lithium monotherapy in 27 depressed adolescents with bipolar I disorder. Forty-eight percent of subjects were considered responders by a 50% reduction in CDRS-R score from baseline to end point. Commonly reported side effects were headaches (74%) and nausea/vomiting Inhibitors,research,lifescience,medical (67%). Thus, while promising, these studies point to the need for larger, placebo-controlled studies of these and other agents (eg, quetiapine, bupropion) in youth with bipolar depression. Another agent that might be studied in this regard is omega-3 fatty acid supplements, given some mild efficacy in preventing adult bipolar depression, and in treating adult bipolar depression.34 Depressive symptoms Even when youth with BD are not in full depressive episodes, it is becoming clear that they all often experience subsyndromal depressive symptoms as well as mixed learn more states. Birmaher and colleagues studied 263 children and adolescents with BD I, II, and not otherwise specified (NOS) over 2 to 3 years.35,36 Subjects were symptomatic 60% of the time, but only in full syndromal depressed or manic episodes 22% of the time. Furthermore, fluctuations in mood were very common. Children with BD changed between mania and depression an average of 16 times per year, with 34.1 % shifting polarity more than 20 times per year.