The Associated Press has a huge article on the latest bipolar disorder treatment studies. The article runs through a variety of new (and some old) approaches including scopolamine (a drug for seasickness), electric fields like those in brain-scan machines, riluzole (a drug for ALS), and tamoxifen (a breast cancer drug). I think that this report, which also has a ton of information on what bipolar disorder is and how some people experience it, highlights the vast amount of money and effort that is going into finding effective treatments.
I don’t have numbers to back this up, but I would imagine that among mental disorders, bipolar disorder is one of the top 5 most researched disorders at the present time. A lot of this would be related to the dramatic increase in people being diagnosed with bipolar disorder and the potential for new profits for the next great drug therapy. This is where articles like the one John wrote about here make the picture of best practices in mental health blurry and confusing.
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“New Bipolar Treatments”
My daughter was diagnosed by a pediatric psychiatrist and is on litium. It seems to be working for her.
I read an article where it said that in a trial for patients with severe anxiety riluzone greatly reduced their anxiety symptoms. Has anyone ever hear this? Thank you.
What about including dietary changes in this. Research has shown a Ketogenic diet does wonders for Bipolar Disorder in lab animals. For those who don’t know —ketogenic is >70% fat and carb restricted. Standford University wanted to do research with humans, but can’t seem to get enough subjects. I have made myself a test case. I consume 75% of my diet as fat and 50% of that is saturated. I have been able to reduce my psych meds by leaps and bounds. Also–not that I put in credibity in the whole cholesterol nonsense—but my levels are fabulous–my HDL is very high, my LDL are the fluffy, large particle kind, and my triglycerides dropped from a whopping 1500 to a mere 30. Besides low cholesterol is a mrker for increased episodes for depression, suicide and violence.
Is it any wonder that bipolar disorder and other cases of mental illness have increased dramatically over the years with the low fat high carb recommended dietary approach.
Also another point to note—the ketogenic diet was first given way back in the 30’s to children with epilepsy. It has garnered new attention recently. It doesn’t take a big stretch of the imagination to see that since a Ketogenic diet helps with seizures it would help with Bipolar Disorder. Many of the meds given for BP are anti-convulsive in the first place.
I would much rather approach my health through nutrition, exercise, and CBT than to rely completely on pharmaceuticals.
Isn’t it funny that a ketogenic diet seems to do wonders for epilepsy, bipolar disorder, diabetes, cholesterol, heart disease, etc. Doesn’t it make you wonder if we’re all just eating lousy diets and that half these diseases are just the result of mis-eating? Which is particularly ironic considering the many years of baseless and destructive government recommendations to replace fat and fatty/protein-rich foods with carbohydrates.
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Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 6 Sep 2007
