How are novel therapies affecting bipolar disorder treatment?

Unlike traditional anti-psychotics, the emergence of weight-neutral medications represents a breakthrough. These novel treatments sidestep issues like insulin resistance, weight gain, somnolence, and cognitive impairment. In an interview with Psych Congress Network at Psych Congress Elevate, Veronica Ridpath, DO, clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine, gave her insights on this new generation of treatments, how they seamlessly align both clinician and patient goals, and how the landscape of bipolar disorder treatment is changing as a result.  

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Read the Transcript: 

Psych Congress Network: What cardiometabolic adverse effects should clinicians be aware of when prescribing medications for patients with bipolar disorder?

Veronica Ridpath, DO: The most commonly reported cardiometabolic side effect with medications is going to be weight gain, and that tends to be one of the top reasons that patients stop taking their medication. But weight gain is associated with a number of other health issues, orthopedic issues, difficulty with blood pressure and blood sugar control, increased risk of heart attack and stroke. When we're looking at treatment for long term, it's not just the stability in the moment, it's how is this going to impact somebody in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years? While patients will report the weight gain as clinicians, we need to be very mindful of what this is going to do to insulin resistance, what it's going to do with propensity to gain weight, what it's going to do for general cardiac health, and evaluate and treat as those things come up.

PCN: How are novel treatments different than traditionally prescribed anti-psychotics or other long-established treatment approaches?

Dr Ridpath: This is a really exciting time in the treatment of bipolar disorder because it's the first time that we really have weight neutral options and medications that work in new and exciting ways. For a very long time, we relied on just a few certain mechanisms for medication treatment, and now with the newer agents, we can avoid things such as the insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance. We can avoid things like weight gain, we can avoid things like somnolence and sedation and cognitive impairment. This new generation of medications is much more patient friendly, and it helps align the goals of the clinician and the patient much better.

Veronica Ridpath, DO, is a clinical associate professor at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine in the department of neuropsychiatry and behavioral science and serves as department chair for psychiatry and substance use at HopeHealth in Florence, South Carolina. Dr Ridpath graduated cum laude from University of North Carolina-Charlotte with a Bachelor of Science in psychology with minors in biology and classical studies. She obtained her Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine, where she was a National Health Service Corp scholar. Dr Ridpath has published and presented primarily in the areas of substance use, primary care and psychiatry integration, and medical student and resident education.