Mayo Clinic Study Finds Bipolar Disorder Costlier Than Many Chronic Diseases.

Mayo Clinic researchers have found that bipolar disorder (BPD) is a more costly chronic condition than diabetes, depression, asthma and coronary artery disease (CAD), based on a review of health care claim costs. Specialty care costs (the costs of seeing any specialist and all tests ordered) were especially higher for bipolar patients. Results of this review are being presented today at the Annual Meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in San Francisco.
Psychiatric care costs represented only a portion of the specialty care costs for these chronic conditions, explains Mark Williams, M.D., a Mayo Clinic psychiatrist and lead researcher. This suggests that many of the specialty costs for bipolar patients are not directly related to seeing a mental health provider.
A data review of health care claims over a four-year period, showed patients with BPD had significantly higher total per member per month costs when compared with the other groups. Only patients with both CAD and diabetes had higher costs than patients with BPD. Total costs, specialty care visits, specialty care costs, outpatient psychiatric costs and outpatient psychiatric visits were compared.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Mayo Clinic
• Bipolar Disorder
• Bipolar
• Williams
• Costs
• Care

[electroboyla]

Dr. Mark Frye is now employed by the Mayo Clinic.

He was my former psychiatrist when I was at UCLA when he put me on Abilify and was a consultant to Bristol Myers Squibb.

Please visit ABILIFY KILLS on YouTube!

[AkathisiA101]

Psychiatric disorders are not medical diseases. There are no lab tests, brain scans, X-rays or chemical imbalance tests that can verify any mental disorder is a physical condition. This is not to say that people do not get depressed, or that people can’t experience emotional or mental duress.But psychiatry has repackaged these emotions and behaviors as “disease” in order to sell drugs. This is a brilliant marketing campaign, but it is not science.

[GrowTheTruth]

Lithium, as a drug, can last slowly accumulate in the body for years even if most of it is dispersed after a short time. It also increases suicidal thoughts in some individuals.

This could, in fact, lead to aggravation of any genetic predispositions towards BPD within the generation born during that time.

A study in 1992 found that Lithium stimulated “late” DNA synthesis in WI-38 cells, which may leave room to question what other effects lithium has on DNA.

Just my theory is all.

[GrowTheTruth]

Why 7-Up? It just so happens that 7-Up became a popular soft drink (among many others) during that time that had Lithium in it. Lithium is currently used to treat bipolar disorder in modern science, but they found that it was dangerous in high doses.

It wasn't until the 1940's that they began to understand the detrimental effects of lithium, but by that time many babies would have been born to mothers who had unknowingly consumed it during the pregnancy.

[GrowTheTruth]

Many might argue that with my theory, during the 1930's with the Great Depression, we'd have seen more suffers of bipolar disorder. Frankly, there was probably a large number that went unreported. Why?

Well, people with bipolar disorder were simply sent to asylums, where there have been reports of torture. Many might not have come forward out of fear. Another reason would also be the introduction of 7-Up in the 1930's and the popularity of other soft drinks.

[GrowTheTruth]

How is it even costlier when there is no real definable methods of diagnosis? That is so very sad.

Could it be possible that the reason younger kids are more likely to have it has to do with what the older generation has turned society into?

These kids are under severe pressure from both their parents and their community to succeed. If they don't succeed then they're deemed useless to society and given a low-paying job to squeak by on with.

[emmelawrence]

Interesting...It's very surprising that Bipolar is even costlier than Diabetes-related care...that's certainly not what I would've expected...