GAINESVILLE, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- When tasks like washing,
arranging, checking, and hoarding take over a person's life, they
become out of control obsessions. It's called obsessive-compulsive
disorder, or OCD, and 1 million Americans struggle with it every
day. Here are two different treatments to keep the disorder in check.

Psychiatrist Nathan Shapira, M.D., Ph.D., of University of Florida,
is an expert on obsessive-compulsive disorder -- a common condition
that can be difficult to treat. He says, "Forty percent to 50
percent get almost no benefit from current treatments, and the other
half typically get partial benefit."

Jim Price knows. He's tried more than 20 drugs, and none have
worked. "I've taken almost all medications, all the tricyclics, the
SSRIs, the MAO inhibitors," he says.

One drug researchers are focusing on is topiramate. They hope adding
it to standard OCD treatments will help patients. "Topiramate has
been reported in case reports and some small trials to be helpful in
various anxiety disorders," Dr. Shapira says.

To help the depression that came with his OCD, Price used a
different drug -- tramadol. "It has not cured my depression," he
says, "But it has held it at a level much lower than what I had
before I started taking the tramadol."

Dr. Shapira says depression improves up to 60 percent with tramadol.
Still, he wants more for his patients. "They're still somewhat
disabled by their illness, although they're a lot better. Our hope
is these types of medications might help to really get the person
well as opposed to just better."

Tramadol is an FDA-approved medication for pain. Since the drug is
an opiate, there is some risk of addiction, but Dr. Shapira says
it's mild compared to the benefits. Topiramate is an FDA-approved
medication for epilepsy. The current study using topiramate for OCD
is being conducted nationwide.

This article was reported by Ivanhoe.com, who offers Medical Alerts
by e-mail every day of the week. To subscribe, go to:
http://www.ivanhoe.com/newsalert/.

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