In maintenance trials atypical antipsychotics had significantly fewer relapses to depression or mania than placebo or active comparator .
Conclusion Atypical antipsychotics are effective in treating both phases of bipolar disorder compared with placebo , and as effective as established drug therapies .
Atypical antipsychotics produce fewer extrapyramidal symptoms , but weight gain is more common ( with olanzapine ) .
There is insufficient data confidently to distinguish between different atypical antipsychotics
Background Atypical antipsychotics are increasingly used for treatment of mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder , and considered to have fewer extrapyramidal effects than older antipsychotics .
A 12-week, double-blind comparison of olanzapine vs haloperidol in the treatment of acute mania.
BACKGROUND This r and omized controlled trial compares the efficacy and safety of olanzapine vs haloperidol , as well as the quality of life of patients taking these drugs , in patients with bipolar mania . METHODS The design consisted of 2 successive , 6-week , double-blind periods and compared flexible dosing of olanzapine ( 5 - 20 mg/d , n = 234 ) with haloperidol ( 3 - 15 mg/d , n = 219 ) . RESULTS Rates of remission ( Young-Mania Rating Scale score of < or = 12 and 21-item Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression score of < or = 8 at week 6 ) were similar for  olanzapine- and haloperidol-treated patients ( 52.1 % vs 46.1 % , respectively ; P = .15 ) . For the subgroup of patients whose index episode did not include psychotic features , rates of remission were significantly greater for the olanzapine group compared with the haloperidol group ( 56.7 % vs 41.6 % , P = .04 ) . Relapse into an affective episode ( mania and /or depression ) occurred in 13.1 % and 14.8 % of olanzapine- and haloperidol-treated patients , respectively ( P = .56 ) . Switch to depression occurred significantly more rapidly with haloperidol than with olanzapine when using survival analysis techniques ( P = .04 ) , and significantly more haloperidol-treated patients experienced worsening of extrapyramidal symptoms , as indicated by several measures . Weight gain was significantly greater in the olanzapine group compared with the haloperidol group ( 2.82 vs 0.02 kg , P<.001 ) . The olanzapine group had significant improvement in quality of life on several dimensions compared with the haloperidol group . CONCLUSIONS These data suggest that olanzapine does not differ from haloperidol in achieving overall remission of bipolar mania . However , haloperidol carries a higher rate of extrapyramidal symptoms , whereas olanzapine is associated with weight gain
In maintenance trials atypical antipsychotics had significantly fewer relapses to depression or mania than placebo or active comparator .
Conclusion Atypical antipsychotics are effective in treating both phases of bipolar disorder compared with placebo , and as effective as established drug therapies .
Atypical antipsychotics produce fewer extrapyramidal symptoms , but weight gain is more common ( with olanzapine ) .
There is insufficient data confidently to distinguish between different atypical antipsychotics
Background Atypical antipsychotics are increasingly used for treatment of mental illnesses like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder , and considered to have fewer extrapyramidal effects than older antipsychotics .