12:15 p.m., Friday, June 17

Press Briefing The Burden of Bipolar Disorder: Solutions that Make Sense

Preliminary results of a new survey indicate 4.3 percent of the U.S. adult population suffers from a bipolar disorder, considerably higher than earlier studies estimating 1 percent prevalence. Its cost comes as a surprise as well, with a near $26 billion annual price tag in the United States. Bipolar disorder accounts for nearly half of all suicidal deaths each year. How best to prevent these suicides? One study finds lithium, one of psychiatry's oldest drugs, the most effective solution.

Participants: Ronald C. Kessler, Ph.D., Harvard Medical School, Ross J. Baldessarini, M.D., Harvard Medical School
Moderator: Ellen Frank, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Other sessions that may also be of interest to news media include:

Thomas R. Insel, M.D., director of the National Institute of Mental Health, will highlight the challenges and promises in bipolar disorder research, while emphasizing the agency's translational approach of moving discoveries from bench to bedside to practice, in a special report at 1 p.m., Thursday, June 16.

The ethical questions surrounding the use of placebos in clinical trials will be discussed by both academic and pharmaceutical industry researchers in a session beginning at 2:45 p.m., Thursday, June 16.

Late-breaking research, including studies that are identifying the specific regions of the brain that may be responsible for manic behaviors and pinpointing changes in brain metabolism that occur in response to certain drugs, will be presented in a special session at 2:45 p.m., Friday, June 17.

For more information about the meeting, to request abstracts, register as press or learn more about press briefings, please contact Gloria Kreps at nbi
'"/>


13-Jun-2005