Conditions: Bipolar Disorder
Allocation: RANDOMIZED | Intervention model: PARALLEL
Enrollment: 90
Healthy volunteers: no

Brief summary:
The purpose of this study is to determine whether treating sleep difficulties in patients with bipolar disorder also improves their mood stability.

Detailed description:
Patients with euthymic bipolar disorder, although free of significant mood symptoms, often have continued sleep disturbances. Improving patients' sleep by also normalizing the circadian rhythm will lead to fewer mood exacerbations. Ramelteon offers a new and more pharmacologically exact mechanism to re-synchronize the SCN. The administration of ramelteon for bipolar patients will improve sleep and will cause fewer mood exacerbations.

Patients with bipolar disorder often experience frequent mood alterations that are attempted to be controlled by mood stabilizing agents and anti-psychotic agents. Both classes of medications have numerous significant side effects. Establishing that ramelteon is helpful in the sleep of patients with bipolar disorder and helpful in mood stability will increase the number of treatment options for bipolar patients.

Arms:
arm 1: 8 mg arm 2: None

Interventions: intervention 1: Ramelteon intervention 2: Placebo
Intervention descriptions: intervention 1: one 8 mg tablet at bedtime for up to 6 months intervention 2: one tablet at bedtime for up to 6 months

Protocol document: