How Blood Tests Can Diagnose Bipolar Disorder

For years, physicians and researchers have sought a definitive method of diagnosing bipolar patients. Currently, bipolar disorder is diagnosed through assessing the patient's mood at the time of the first encounter with a doctor, using reported symptoms as well as the physician's own findings. In early 2005, however, scientists found a possible way to diagnose mental disorders through blood testing.

History

• The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services states that there are currently 44 million Americans suffering from some form of mental illness. Bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depression) is characterized by mood swings from acute depression to mania and back, sometimes over the course of several weeks or months. Because patients often have difficulty assessing how ill they are, bipolar disorder can be difficult to treat.

Significance

• Researchers have identified a group of genetic markers that indicate a high degree of vulnerability to mental illness, isolated them and used them in a study to predict high-level moods and low-level moods in study participants. The accuracy in predicting moods ranged from 77 to 85 percent, percentages that are as accurate as some cancer screening tests.

The Future

• Genetic testing of this sort can be used by physicians to gauge the efficacy of treatment, as well as aiding in early intervention and prevention for some conditions. Although more work needs to be done on the accuracy of these tests, it is expected that they will be available on the market for doctors' clinical use as early as 2013.

Potential

• An accurate genetic test such as this could guarantee that patients are getting the right medication in the proper dosage amounts. Many scientists also believe that by having a genetic test, mental disorders would be viewed the same as any other medical condition, helping to erase the stigma that often prevents patients from seeking the help they need.

Considerations

• The testing is not without controversy, as there are some scientists who fear the potential for abuse from these tests is high and could potentially create discrimination in job-hiring procedures or college admissions, or with insurance coverage. Employers for high-risk jobs such as the military or police might use them for screening purposes as well, creating bias in the recruitment process.