--- title: Augmentation With Low-Dose Aspirin Not Helpful in New Onset Bipolar Disorder description: For patients newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD), augmenting their standard medication with low-dose aspirin didn’t improve mood stability or reduce depression. image: https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/aspirin_iStock-458083039_editorial_only.jpg --- 12/3/25 9:49 AM # Augmentation With Low-Dose Aspirin Not Helpful in New Onset Bipolar Disorder ![Picture of Psychiatric News Alert](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Psych%20News%20Email%20Banners/PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png?width=50&name=PN-Blue-Box_rgb.png) [ Psychiatric News Alert ](https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert) Share: [facebook-f icon ](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://alert.psychnews.org/augmentation-with-low-dose-aspirin-not-helpful-in-new-onset-bipolar-disorder) [linkedin-in icon ](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://alert.psychnews.org/augmentation-with-low-dose-aspirin-not-helpful-in-new-onset-bipolar-disorder) [Twitter icon ](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/augmentation-with-low-dose-aspirin-not-helpful-in-new-onset-bipolar-disorder) [pinterest-p icon ](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://alert.psychnews.org/augmentation-with-low-dose-aspirin-not-helpful-in-new-onset-bipolar-disorder) [envelope icon ](mailto:?body=https://alert.psychnews.org/augmentation-with-low-dose-aspirin-not-helpful-in-new-onset-bipolar-disorder) ![aspirin_iStock-458083039_editorial_only](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/aspirin_iStock-458083039_editorial_only.jpg?width=170&height=220&name=aspirin_iStock-458083039_editorial_only.jpg)For patients newly diagnosed with bipolar disorder (BD), augmenting their standard medication with low-dose aspirin didn’t improve mood stability or reduce depression, according to a [study](https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/acps.70055) published in *Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica*.   **Why It’s Relevant** Recent studies have indicated a possible link between immunoinflammatory dysfunction and BD. That suggests that anti-inflammatory agents such as low-dose aspirin could potentially be repurposed to treat BD. To test this hypothesis, researchers conducted a randomized, placebo-controlled, augmentation trial involving 240 adults in Denmark with newly diagnosed BD.   **By the Numbers** - After six months, there was no clinically relevant difference in patient-reported mood instability between adults who took 150mg aspirin daily in addition to their regular medication versus those who took placebo. - There were also no beneficial effects of low-dose aspirin on other studied outcomes, which included depressive symptoms, manic symptoms, sleep variability, and cognition. - In fact, the researchers saw a slight worsening in depressive symptoms among those taking low-dose aspirin at six months. However, this increase was no longer observed at the 12-month follow-up. **The Other Side** Participants had all been diagnosed with BD within the past two years, so they had few medical comorbidities and a relatively low baseline symptom burden, possibly limiting generalizability to patients with more symptomatic or progressed illness.   **What’s Next** The results do not provide a rationale for the broad clinical use of low-dose aspirin in early-stage BD, the researchers noted, but it remains unexplored whether aspirin might have potential benefits in patients with BD and comorbid risk factors such as obesity, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia.   **Related Info** “[Advancing an Inflammatory Subtype of Major Depression](https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/appi.ajp.20250289).”   **Source** Caroline Fussing Bruun et al.: No effect of low-dose aspirin versus placebo as add-on treatment in bipolar disorder: results from a randomized controlled trial. *Acta Psychiatr Scand* 2025 Nov 30. doi: 10.1111/acps.70055.    (Image: Getty Images/iStock/Bloodlinewolf)   [depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/depression), [bipolar disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/bipolar-disorder), [mood](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/mood), [anti-inflammatory](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/anti-inflammatory), [aspirin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/aspirin), [low-dose aspirin](https://alert.psychnews.org/tag/low-dose-aspirin) ## Related Posts [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/light_therapy_iStock-462294507-Jun-24-2025-03-41-45-2610-PM.jpg?height=200&name=light_therapy_iStock-462294507-Jun-24-2025-03-41-45-2610-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/04/bipolar-ii-disorder-associated-with.html) ## [Bipolar II Disorder Associated With Higher Prevalence of Seasonal Affective Disorder](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/04/bipolar-ii-disorder-associated-with.html) 6/24/24 11:16 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2021/04/bipolar-ii-disorder-associated-with.html) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/circadian_rhythm_iStock-2256899610.jpg?height=200&name=circadian_rhythm_iStock-2256899610.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/stabilizing-circadian-rhythms-reduces-recurrence-of-mood-episodes) ## [Stabilizing Circadian Rhythms Reduces Recurrence of Mood Episodes](https://alert.psychnews.org/stabilizing-circadian-rhythms-reduces-recurrence-of-mood-episodes) 6/25/26 11:12 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/stabilizing-circadian-rhythms-reduces-recurrence-of-mood-episodes) [![](https://alert.psychnews.org/hs-fs/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/brain_iStock_463040647-Jun-24-2025-05-07-38-1400-PM.jpg?height=200&name=brain_iStock_463040647-Jun-24-2025-05-07-38-1400-PM.jpg) ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/01/transcranial-direct-current-stimulation.html) ## [Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation May Improve Outcomes in Patients With Bipolar Depression](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/01/transcranial-direct-current-stimulation.html) 1/3/18 12:00 AM [ Read more ](https://alert.psychnews.org/2018/01/transcranial-direct-current-stimulation.html) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Psychiatric News Alert", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/author/psychiatric-news-alert" }, "dateModified" : "2025-12-03T14:49:28.339Z", "datePublished" : "2025-12-03T14:49:28.000Z", "headline" : "Augmentation With Low-Dose Aspirin Not Helpful in New Onset Bipolar Disorder", "image" : [ "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/Imported_Blog_Media/aspirin_iStock-458083039_editorial_only.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/augmentation-with-low-dose-aspirin-not-helpful-in-new-onset-bipolar-disorder", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://alert.psychnews.org/hubfs/PN-Blue-Box.jpg" } } } ```