Champignon Brands Inc (CSE:SHRM) (OTCQB:SHRMF), a research-driven company specializing in breakthrough ketamine treatment for depression and other mental health conditions, revealed Friday that CEO Dr Roger McIntyre’s article “Bipolar Disorders” has been published in the prestigious peer-reviewed The Lancet medical journal.
The article is part of The Lancet's peer-reviewed seminars and provides a "state-of-the-art overview of bipolar disorders, covering epidemiology, parthenogenesis, diagnosis, treatment, and prevention, while highlighting relevant clinical controversies."
Bipolar disorders develop before the age of 25 in 70% of adults and substantially reduce the quality of life and psychosocial functioning across a person’s lifespan. Most individuals with bipolar disorders are affected by depressive symptoms and episodes. Nearly 1.25% of patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) per year are subsequently diagnosed with a bipolar disorder.
READ: Champignon Brands is making a scientific case for psychedelic medicine
Crucially, although people with bipolar disorders are 20-to-30 times more likely to die by suicide (around 30-to-50% of adults with bipolar disorders have a lifetime history of suicide attempts), suicide is not the primary reason people with the condition lose 10-to-20 potential years of life.
The article notes that lithium is a well-established antimanic agent that is also capable of attenuating depressive symptoms and reducing suicidal ideation. Other treatments for bipolar depression include cariprazine, lurasidone, quetiapine, and the combination of olanzapine–fluoxetine.
These treatments work best in individuals with fewer episodes and shorter illness durations. That is, patients who are diagnosed and receive effective treatment promptly are more likely to recover than are those who have already experienced multiple episodes and years of unstable illness.
Unfortunately, individuals with bipolar disorders are often misdiagnosed.
"Most individuals with bipolar disorders are not accurately diagnosed until approximately 6–10 years after first contact with a primary health-care provider, a specialty health-care provider, or both, despite having clinical characteristics of the illness," points out the article.
It concludes: "The availability of so-called rapid-onset treatments (e.g., ketamine) and treatments that could mitigate suicidality is crucial to clinical settings. The next decade will see the testing of mechanistically novel agents for bipolar disorders."
Champignon CEO Dr McIntyre is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto and Head of the Mood Disorders Psychopharmacology Unit at the University Health Network. He has published over 600 scientific articles on bipolar disorders and depression.
Champignon Brands works closely with subsidiaries including AltMed Capital Corp, which owns the Canadian Rapid Treatment Center of Excellence.
Contact the author Uttara Choudhury at [email protected]
Follow her on Twitter: @UttaraProactive
