Spit In A Cup????

Spit in a cup and find out if you are bipolar. What a load of bullshit!

Home bipolar disorder test causes stirs

By MARCUS WOHLSEN, Associated Press Writer Sat Mar 22, 4:23 PM ET

SAN DIEGO - Dr. John Kelsoe has spent his career trying to identify the biological roots of bipolar disorder. In December, he announced he had discovered several gene mutations closely tied to the disease, also known as manic depression.

Then Kelsoe, a prominent psychiatric geneticist at the University of California, San Diego, did something provocative for the buttoned-down world of academic medical research: He began selling bipolar genetic tests straight to the public over the Internet last month for $399.

His company, La Jolla-based Psynomics, joins a legion of startups racing to exploit the boom in research connecting genetic variations to a host of health conditions. More than 1,000 at-home gene tests have burst onto the market in the past few years.

The proliferation of these tests troubles many public health officials, medical ethicists and doctors. The tests receive almost no government oversight, even though many of them are being sold as tools for making serious medical decisions.

Health experts worry that many of these products are built on thin data and are preying on individuals’ deepest anxieties.

“People are always rushing to the market on the basis of one or two studies,” said Dr. Muin Khoury, director of the National Office of Public Health Genomics at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “We have very little evidence that telling people their genetic information is going to make any difference.”

Tests have become available claiming to help predict and diagnose everything from serious illnesses like cancer and Alzheimer’s to athletic ability and a person’s ideal diet. Psynomics’ offering is one of the first psychiatric gene tests on the market.

Kelsoe, 52, acknowledges that bipolar disorder probably results from a combination of genetic factors and life experiences, and that the presence of these gene variations does not at all mean that someone will, in fact, develop the disease. He admits, too, that his findings about the genetic basis of the illness are far from complete.

But he said his test is a vital starting point toward moving away from the notoriously tricky practice of diagnosing bipolar disorder based purely on a person’s behavior.

“The goal of this is to try and help doctors make an accurate diagnosis more quickly so the patient can be treated appropriately,” Kelsoe said. “Anything is going to help, even if it just helps a little bit.”

Bipolar sufferers experience intense mood swings as they cycle between manic, sometimes delusional highs and depressive lows that can lead to suicide if untreated. The disease is often misdiagnosed as other forms of depression, which delays treatment and can result in the prescribing of antidepressants that make some patients’ symptoms worse.

To take the test, patients receive by mail a plastic cup that they spit into, seal and send back to Psynomics. The company analyzes DNA in the saliva.

Psynomics will send patients’ test results only to their doctors to avoid the risk of self-diagnosis.

The report that accompanies those results instructs doctors that a positive test means patients are two to three times more likely to have bipolar disorder. But the studies from which those figures come also show the gene variations themselves are rare even among those with bipolar.

The report also points out that for now, the test is valid only for whites of Northern European ancestry who show some behavioral symptoms and have at least one other bipolar family member. (Duhhh…..)

Patients taking Psynomics’ bipolar test may feel branded by a positive result, even if they are not ultimately diagnosed with the disorder, said Hank Greely, a professor of law and genetics with the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics. Or they may feel false hope from a negative result, despite the company’s disclaimers.

Likewise, doctors have little training beyond what companies tell them when it comes to applying the test results. “They may make a foolish decision that backfires to put you on meds,” Greely said. “Or they may make a decision that backfires not to put you on meds.”

Unlike many tests for other conditions on the market, Psynomics does not claim its bipolar test can predict a person’s risk of developing the disorder later in life. It is meant to be used as a purely diagnostic tool for patients already showing symptoms.

That is an important distinction that makes the Psynomics test more responsible than others that promise a glimpse into the genetic crystal ball, according to Dr. Greg Feero, head of genomic health care at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

“Now you’re talking about an individual who has symptoms or signs that already put them in a very different risk category than someone who has no symptoms or signs,” Feero said.

Among hundreds of families Kelsoe has studied, one of the gene variations in the Psynomics test showed up in 1 percent of those unaffected by the disorder versus 3 percent who are affected. The other variation appeared in 7 percent of those without bipolar compared to 15 percent who have the disease.

Many other genes interacting with a patient’s environment contribute to the development of bipolar disorder, Kelsoe and other researchers believe, meaning no single genetic variation ultimately causes the disease. Researchers in Kelsoe’s lab are working to track down more genes.

“Why are we starting before it’s finished? You’ve got to start somewhere,” Kelsoe said. “Even if we knew everything about the genes, which we certainly don’t, it’s never going to be 100 percent predictive.”

Psynomics has sold only a few tests so far but is projecting sales of 1,800 tests in 2008 and 30,000 in the next five years.

In coming months, at least two other startups led by genetic researchers are set to release their own psychiatric genetic tests. One test claims to predict the risk of developing schizophrenia. The other is designed to forecast the likelihood that some medications for major depression could heighten suicidal thoughts in patients.

The American Psychiatric Association has yet to create an official policy on genetic testing. A fact sheet issued by the Federal Trade Commission advises consumers to be wary of assertions made by at-home genetic testing companies.

The Food and Drug Administration does not evaluate the tests for accuracy, though a panel is working on a set of standards for the growing industry.

For now, worry persists that with the proliferation of tests, there is too little understanding of what to do with the results, or what they mean.

“We just don’t know how people will use the information,” said Dr. Jinger Hoop, a professor of psychiatric genetics and medical ethics at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. “We don’t know whether it will be helpful to them in the long run.”

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The truth is, folks, bipolar disorder is not something that can be diagnosed by a dumb-ass drug store test. Neither can it be diagnosed solely by an internet check-off screening. The following test ( and others like it) may be helpful to answer and take to a licensed medical professional. But, please do not be mislead by a simple 3 minute quiz. For funsies, let’s look at other reasons that you might be checking the boxes…….

Bipolar Screening Test

Look for signs of bipolar disorder

Read the following lists.

Put a check mark by each sign that sounds like you now or in the past:

Signs of mania (ups)
I feel like I’m on top of the world. ( I finally met my goal at Jenny Craig! or Hey! I only owe the IRS half of the 10 grand that I thought that I owed them! “insert other reasons that you might feel great here”…..
I feel powerful. I can do anything I want, nothing can stop me. (Check in the mirror and see if Tom Cruise is looking back at you). I have lots of energy. (Got a good nights sleep, ate healthy, exercised, and took my vitamins) I don’t seem to need much sleep. (Those daytime naps at work are working wonders). I feel restless all the time.(I knew that I should have quit at 9 cups of Starbucks!)

I feel really mad.(How could that asshole have left me for my sister?)

I have a lot of sexual energy.(I finally got a date with that hot guy in accounting!)

I’m spending lots of money on things I don’t need and can’t afford.(so do a majority of Americans. That’s why a lot of us are only 1 paycheck from living in our cars.)

Friends tell me that I’ve been acting differently. They tell me that I’m starting fights, talking louder, and getting more angry.(Sheesh….they just don’t understand those of us who are committed to our cause, Scientology)

Signs of depression (downs)

I am really sad most of the time.(Now, this one might be legitimate).

I don’t enjoy doing the things I’ve always enjoyed doing. (Girl Scout meetings use to be so much darn fun……30 years ago). I don’t sleep well at night and am very restless.(I‘ve just got to quit watching those news channels before bedtime.) I have little to no sexual energy (Sex was so much more fun before my husband turned into a sofa dwelling, fart/burp machine). I find it hard to focus and am very forgetful. (Wish I didn’t have to multi-task 15 things at one time).

I feel upset and fearful, but can’t figure out why.(I really, really do need to quit watching news programs before bedtime).

I don’t feel like talking to people.(Why do these idiots keep asking the same stupid questions over and over?)

OK….I’m just fooling around with that check-box test. My point is that you cannot rely on self-diagnosis. Over the many years that I have see-sawed between denial and acceptance, I have learned one important lesson. You MUST seek professional help from a reliable, trustworthy mental health professional. At the very least, see your family physician and discuss symptoms of BP.

Just one more thing……any person who buys that drugstore test or uses an internet quiz to proclaim themselves bipolar in order to make an ass out of themselves (or use it as a legal defense) is subject to a total and complete ass-whupping from me.