Important Reminders from the APA Symposium on Special Topics in Bipolar Disorder
Our editor Robert M. Post served as discussant at a symposium on special topics in bipolar disorder at the 2013 meeting of the American Psychiatic Association. Here are some of the findings that were presented at the symposium.
Michael Gitlin of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) emphasized the importance of treating patients until remission in order to achieve functional recovery and prevent cognitive impairment.
Michael Bauer of Dresden, Germany reviewed data showing that early onset of the illness and long delays to first treatment are important predictors of poor response to treatment.
Mark Frye of the Mayo Clinic discussed the promise of pharmacogenomics to aid in the selection of the best medicine for a given individual (i.e. personalized medicine). Currently the presence of one of a few relatively rare gene variations—HLA-B 1502 (in Asian populations) and HLA-A 3101 (in European populations)—can predict that an individual may develop a severe rash when taking the anticonvulsant carbamazepine. Researcher J. Rybakowski has found that a somewhat common variant in the gene responsible for producing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (the val-66-met allele for proBDNF) is associated with a good response to lithium. This may be explained by the fact that lithium increases BDNF, and this could be crucial in those with the val-66-met allele, which functions less efficiently than the more common and better functioning allele val-66-val.
David Miklowitz, also of UCLA, reviewed data that strongly indicates psychotherapy is effective in the treatment and prevention of bipolar depression. He and Kiki Chang of Stanford University found that family focused therapy (FFT) was effective in treating early syndromes that sometimes lead to bipolar disorder (including depression, anxiety, or BP-NOS) in children at high risk for bipolar disorder because of a family history that includes bipolar disorder in a first degree relative. Yesterday we shared the 8 key ingredients to family focused therapy.
In his discussion, Post emphasized several points from each presentation. Among these was the recommendation by both Gitlin and Bauer that patients use a personal calendar to monitor symptoms and side effects. (We offer an easy download of a personal calendar.)
Post also endorsed Bauer’s emphasis on the need for early intervention, since delay to first treatment is an independent risk factor for a poor outcome in adulthood. (This finding has been replicated in three studies — Franchini et al. in 1999, Post et al. in 2010, and Drancourt et al. in 2012.
Each of these factors and family focused therapy need greater attention in the US, since Post noted that all aspects of bipolar disorder are more difficult for patients in the US compared to those in Germany, the Netherlands, and many other European countries. About two-thirds of the adults with bipolar disorder in the US had onset of the illness before age 19, while in most European countries, only about one-third of adult patients had an early onset. These data are also consistent with the low incidence of bipolar disorder in children at high risk for the disorder because of a parent with bipolar disorder in studies from the Netherlands, Switzerland, and Germany. In contrast, similar studies of children with at least on parent diagnosed with bipolar disorder in the US (by Chang et al., Nurnberger et al., Wozniak et al., and Birmaher et al.) show a higher incidence of the illness. Canadian studies by Duffy et al. and studies of an isolated Amish community in Pennsylvania by Egeland et al. show a low incidence much like the Europeans.
Given the great need for care of children with signs of bipolar disorder in the US and the shortage of child psychiatrists and pediatricians knowledgeable about bipolar disorder, Post recommended that in the absence of other alternatives, adult psychiatrists of parents with bipolar disorder who have children with the disorder should fill this gap by treating the children themselves. If the child has only early symptoms, family focused therapy as described by Miklowitz above would be recommended.
Tomorrow and Friday we’ll share tables with recommendations for the treatment of parents with bipolar disorder and their children.
