HealthDay (5/12, Thompson) reports, “People taking one of the alternative mood stabilizers were 40 percent more likely to harm themselves compared to patients on lithium,” researchers found.
According to MedPage Today (5/12, Jenkins), the findings of the 6,671-patient study published online May 11 in JAMA Psychiatry also reveal that “self-harm rates in those prescribed valproate were not higher than in those on other nonlithium maintenance therapies, contrary to the an existing… warning” by the Food and Drug Administration.
Psychiatric News (5/12) quotes the study authors, who theorized, “The lower rates of self-harm in those prescribed lithium may be due either to improved mood stabilization compared with other treatments or specific effects on impulsive aggression and risk taking.” The study authors concluded, “Self-harm, unintentional injury, and suicide are important morbidity and mortality outcomes in BPD [bipolar disorder] that appear to be amenable to modification through appropriate drug treatment.”
Related Links:
— “Lithium Beats Newer Meds for Bipolar Disorder, Study Finds,” Dennis Thompson, HealthDay, May 12, 2016.