Bipolar diagnosis jumps in young children: study

[Guest guest]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60E0NC20100115

Bipolar diagnosis jumps in young children: study

Ros

Krasny

BOSTON

Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:36am EST

BOSTON (Reuters) - The number of children aged 2 to 5 who have been

diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed powerful antipsychotic

drugs has doubled over the past decade, according to research released

on Friday.

Health

The research suggests that while it is still rare to prescribe

powerful psychiatric drugs to 2-year-olds, the practice is becoming

more frequent.

The data, compiled from 2000 to 2007, and published in the Journal

of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, could

inform testimony at the upcoming Boston-area murder trials of the

parents of 4-year-old Riley. The girl died of an overdose of

mood-stabilizing medication in 2006.

A Boston child psychiatrist, Kayoko Kifuji, diagnosed Riley with

bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when she

was 30 months old, and placed her on several powerful drugs: Depakote,

an antiseizure medication also used for bipolar disorder, and

clonidine, a blood pressure medication.

Kifuji's testimony may be crucial to the fate of and Carolyn

Riley, who face first-degree murder charges. A grand jury and a review

by the state's medical licensing board cleared the doctor of wrongdoing.

Prosecutors claim the Rileys deliberately overmedicated their

daughter to subdue her. The couple say they were following Kifuji's

instructions and their daughter died of pneumonia.

The case has shone the spotlight again on a debate within the

psychiatric profession about whether bipolar disorder can be diagnosed

in very young children and whether it is wise to prescribe powerful

medications.

BIPOLAR TODDLERS?

Bipolar disorder, characterized by severe mood swings, was once

thought to emerge only during adolescence or later. But Dr. ph

Biederman, a child psychiatrist at Harvard University, transformed

views on the subject by arguing that children could have the disorder

at extremely young ages.

He is credited with spearheading a more than 40-fold increase in the

number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder over the past decade.

Biederman was accused in 2008 by Republican U.S. Senator

Grassley of failing to fully disclose payments by drug companies,

including some that produced medication for bipolar disorder. Biederman

declined to be interviewed about the latest study.

"The psychiatric diagnosis of very young children is anything but an

exact science," said Harry , a psychologist and publisher of

NeuroInvestment, a monthly publication specializing in central nervous

system disorders.

"Such disparate causes as ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, sexual

abuse, and family dysfunction can produce very similar symptoms in a

toddler."

The report's author, Mark Olfson, professor of clinical psychiatry

at Columbia University, said about 1.5 percent of all privately insured

children between the ages of 2 and 5, or one in 70 children, received

some sort of psychotropic drug -- whether an antipsychotic, a mood

stabilizer, a stimulant or an antidepressant -- in 2007.

If a child is diagnosed with bipolar disorder between the ages of 2

and 5, about half are prescribed an antipsychotic, such as Eli Lilly

& Co's Zyprexa, AstraZeneca Plc's Seroquel, and &

's Risperdal. They are prescribed to about one in 3,000

2-year-olds, according to his report.

"There might be a role for these drugs but only after you've tried

other interventions, with the parents, or with the parents and child

together, but that is not happening when you examine the billing

records," Olfson said.

(Additional reporting by Toni e; Editing by

Cooney)

[Guest guest]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60E0NC20100115

Bipolar diagnosis jumps in young children: study

Ros

Krasny

BOSTON

Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:36am EST

BOSTON (Reuters) - The number of children aged 2 to 5 who have been

diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed powerful antipsychotic

drugs has doubled over the past decade, according to research released

on Friday.

Health

The research suggests that while it is still rare to prescribe

powerful psychiatric drugs to 2-year-olds, the practice is becoming

more frequent.

The data, compiled from 2000 to 2007, and published in the Journal

of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, could

inform testimony at the upcoming Boston-area murder trials of the

parents of 4-year-old Riley. The girl died of an overdose of

mood-stabilizing medication in 2006.

A Boston child psychiatrist, Kayoko Kifuji, diagnosed Riley with

bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when she

was 30 months old, and placed her on several powerful drugs: Depakote,

an antiseizure medication also used for bipolar disorder, and

clonidine, a blood pressure medication.

Kifuji's testimony may be crucial to the fate of and Carolyn

Riley, who face first-degree murder charges. A grand jury and a review

by the state's medical licensing board cleared the doctor of wrongdoing.

Prosecutors claim the Rileys deliberately overmedicated their

daughter to subdue her. The couple say they were following Kifuji's

instructions and their daughter died of pneumonia.

The case has shone the spotlight again on a debate within the

psychiatric profession about whether bipolar disorder can be diagnosed

in very young children and whether it is wise to prescribe powerful

medications.

BIPOLAR TODDLERS?

Bipolar disorder, characterized by severe mood swings, was once

thought to emerge only during adolescence or later. But Dr. ph

Biederman, a child psychiatrist at Harvard University, transformed

views on the subject by arguing that children could have the disorder

at extremely young ages.

He is credited with spearheading a more than 40-fold increase in the

number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder over the past decade.

Biederman was accused in 2008 by Republican U.S. Senator

Grassley of failing to fully disclose payments by drug companies,

including some that produced medication for bipolar disorder. Biederman

declined to be interviewed about the latest study.

"The psychiatric diagnosis of very young children is anything but an

exact science," said Harry , a psychologist and publisher of

NeuroInvestment, a monthly publication specializing in central nervous

system disorders.

"Such disparate causes as ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, sexual

abuse, and family dysfunction can produce very similar symptoms in a

toddler."

The report's author, Mark Olfson, professor of clinical psychiatry

at Columbia University, said about 1.5 percent of all privately insured

children between the ages of 2 and 5, or one in 70 children, received

some sort of psychotropic drug -- whether an antipsychotic, a mood

stabilizer, a stimulant or an antidepressant -- in 2007.

If a child is diagnosed with bipolar disorder between the ages of 2

and 5, about half are prescribed an antipsychotic, such as Eli Lilly

& Co's Zyprexa, AstraZeneca Plc's Seroquel, and &

's Risperdal. They are prescribed to about one in 3,000

2-year-olds, according to his report.

"There might be a role for these drugs but only after you've tried

other interventions, with the parents, or with the parents and child

together, but that is not happening when you examine the billing

records," Olfson said.

(Additional reporting by Toni e; Editing by

Cooney)

[Guest guest]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60E0NC20100115

Bipolar diagnosis jumps in young children: study

Ros

Krasny

BOSTON

Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:36am EST

BOSTON (Reuters) - The number of children aged 2 to 5 who have been

diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed powerful antipsychotic

drugs has doubled over the past decade, according to research released

on Friday.

Health

The research suggests that while it is still rare to prescribe

powerful psychiatric drugs to 2-year-olds, the practice is becoming

more frequent.

The data, compiled from 2000 to 2007, and published in the Journal

of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, could

inform testimony at the upcoming Boston-area murder trials of the

parents of 4-year-old Riley. The girl died of an overdose of

mood-stabilizing medication in 2006.

A Boston child psychiatrist, Kayoko Kifuji, diagnosed Riley with

bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when she

was 30 months old, and placed her on several powerful drugs: Depakote,

an antiseizure medication also used for bipolar disorder, and

clonidine, a blood pressure medication.

Kifuji's testimony may be crucial to the fate of and Carolyn

Riley, who face first-degree murder charges. A grand jury and a review

by the state's medical licensing board cleared the doctor of wrongdoing.

Prosecutors claim the Rileys deliberately overmedicated their

daughter to subdue her. The couple say they were following Kifuji's

instructions and their daughter died of pneumonia.

The case has shone the spotlight again on a debate within the

psychiatric profession about whether bipolar disorder can be diagnosed

in very young children and whether it is wise to prescribe powerful

medications.

BIPOLAR TODDLERS?

Bipolar disorder, characterized by severe mood swings, was once

thought to emerge only during adolescence or later. But Dr. ph

Biederman, a child psychiatrist at Harvard University, transformed

views on the subject by arguing that children could have the disorder

at extremely young ages.

He is credited with spearheading a more than 40-fold increase in the

number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder over the past decade.

Biederman was accused in 2008 by Republican U.S. Senator

Grassley of failing to fully disclose payments by drug companies,

including some that produced medication for bipolar disorder. Biederman

declined to be interviewed about the latest study.

"The psychiatric diagnosis of very young children is anything but an

exact science," said Harry , a psychologist and publisher of

NeuroInvestment, a monthly publication specializing in central nervous

system disorders.

"Such disparate causes as ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, sexual

abuse, and family dysfunction can produce very similar symptoms in a

toddler."

The report's author, Mark Olfson, professor of clinical psychiatry

at Columbia University, said about 1.5 percent of all privately insured

children between the ages of 2 and 5, or one in 70 children, received

some sort of psychotropic drug -- whether an antipsychotic, a mood

stabilizer, a stimulant or an antidepressant -- in 2007.

If a child is diagnosed with bipolar disorder between the ages of 2

and 5, about half are prescribed an antipsychotic, such as Eli Lilly

& Co's Zyprexa, AstraZeneca Plc's Seroquel, and &

's Risperdal. They are prescribed to about one in 3,000

2-year-olds, according to his report.

"There might be a role for these drugs but only after you've tried

other interventions, with the parents, or with the parents and child

together, but that is not happening when you examine the billing

records," Olfson said.

(Additional reporting by Toni e; Editing by

Cooney)

[Guest guest]

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE60E0NC20100115

Bipolar diagnosis jumps in young children: study

Ros

Krasny

BOSTON

Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:36am EST

BOSTON (Reuters) - The number of children aged 2 to 5 who have been

diagnosed with bipolar disorder and prescribed powerful antipsychotic

drugs has doubled over the past decade, according to research released

on Friday.

Health

The research suggests that while it is still rare to prescribe

powerful psychiatric drugs to 2-year-olds, the practice is becoming

more frequent.

The data, compiled from 2000 to 2007, and published in the Journal

of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, could

inform testimony at the upcoming Boston-area murder trials of the

parents of 4-year-old Riley. The girl died of an overdose of

mood-stabilizing medication in 2006.

A Boston child psychiatrist, Kayoko Kifuji, diagnosed Riley with

bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder when she

was 30 months old, and placed her on several powerful drugs: Depakote,

an antiseizure medication also used for bipolar disorder, and

clonidine, a blood pressure medication.

Kifuji's testimony may be crucial to the fate of and Carolyn

Riley, who face first-degree murder charges. A grand jury and a review

by the state's medical licensing board cleared the doctor of wrongdoing.

Prosecutors claim the Rileys deliberately overmedicated their

daughter to subdue her. The couple say they were following Kifuji's

instructions and their daughter died of pneumonia.

The case has shone the spotlight again on a debate within the

psychiatric profession about whether bipolar disorder can be diagnosed

in very young children and whether it is wise to prescribe powerful

medications.

BIPOLAR TODDLERS?

Bipolar disorder, characterized by severe mood swings, was once

thought to emerge only during adolescence or later. But Dr. ph

Biederman, a child psychiatrist at Harvard University, transformed

views on the subject by arguing that children could have the disorder

at extremely young ages.

He is credited with spearheading a more than 40-fold increase in the

number of children diagnosed with bipolar disorder over the past decade.

Biederman was accused in 2008 by Republican U.S. Senator

Grassley of failing to fully disclose payments by drug companies,

including some that produced medication for bipolar disorder. Biederman

declined to be interviewed about the latest study.

"The psychiatric diagnosis of very young children is anything but an

exact science," said Harry , a psychologist and publisher of

NeuroInvestment, a monthly publication specializing in central nervous

system disorders.

"Such disparate causes as ADHD, depression, bipolar disorder, sexual

abuse, and family dysfunction can produce very similar symptoms in a

toddler."

The report's author, Mark Olfson, professor of clinical psychiatry

at Columbia University, said about 1.5 percent of all privately insured

children between the ages of 2 and 5, or one in 70 children, received

some sort of psychotropic drug -- whether an antipsychotic, a mood

stabilizer, a stimulant or an antidepressant -- in 2007.

If a child is diagnosed with bipolar disorder between the ages of 2

and 5, about half are prescribed an antipsychotic, such as Eli Lilly

& Co's Zyprexa, AstraZeneca Plc's Seroquel, and &

's Risperdal. They are prescribed to about one in 3,000

2-year-olds, according to his report.

"There might be a role for these drugs but only after you've tried

other interventions, with the parents, or with the parents and child

together, but that is not happening when you examine the billing

records," Olfson said.

(Additional reporting by Toni e; Editing by

Cooney)