40-fold Increase in Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis in Children between 1994-2003

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NaturalNews.com printable article

Originally published February 19 2008

Forty-Fold Increase in Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis in Children over Last Decade

by Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) The diagnosis of children with bipolar disorder increased 40-fold

in the time period between 1994 and 2003, a new study published in the Archives

of General Psychiatry has revealed.

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a term applied to a

condition in adults in which a person swings between severe manic highs --

characterized by high energy, little sleep, and frenetic activity -- and

depressive lows, characterized by not only negative emotions such as sadness,

anger and guilt, but also by disrupted sleep and eating patterns, irritability,

chronic pain and even suicidal thoughts. Diagnosis of children with the disorder

was very rare until the mid-1990s, when a number of psychiatrists began to

promote the view that the symptoms of the disorder manifest differently in

children.

According to this school of thought, bipolar children cycle between highs and

lows much more rapidly than adults, and in them the disorder is characterized by

frequent irritability and rage.

This change in perspective led the diagnosis of children to increase from 20,000

to 800,000 between 1993 and 2004, with the proportion of children diagnosed as

bipolar jumping to 1,003 per 100,000, or more than 1 percent (the rate in

adults, over the same period, nearly doubled to 1,069 per 100,000).

Skeptics, however, claim the numbers reveal a system of scientific fraud. " This

rapid increase in diagnosis of bipolar disorder can only be explained by either

a runaway epidemic infection or a medical fraud that seeks to label children as

'diseased' in order to sell them more drugs, " said consumer health advocate Mike

.

According the new study, nine of 10 children diagnosed as bipolar are treated

with at least one medication, and two-thirds of them are treated with two or

more drugs. These drugs create profitable, reliable revenue streams for drug

companies.

The data for the study were taken from annual government surveys of doctors.

The skyrocketing rate of childhood diagnosis has many people arguing over

whether bipolar disorder was previously under diagnosed, or whether

psychiatrists are now over diagnosing it.

" There's no question that there is misdiagnosis going on,'' said Sachs,

director of the bipolar and mood disorders program at Massachusetts General

Hospital in Boston. " You can dispute whether it's under- or overdiagnosis.''

Among the conditions in children that may easily be misdiagnosed as bipolar

disorder are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, schizophrenia

and Tourette syndrome. Misdiagnosis, in turn, may lead to inappropriate use of

drugs. " These children need better nutrition, not more drugs, " said Mike .

" Furthermore, most of the drugs being used to treat these children have never

been tested on children nor approved for use on children by the FDA. "

FAIR USE NOTICE: This message may contain copyrighted material. Such material is

made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human

rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc.

The sender asserts that this transmittal constitutes a 'fair use' of any such

copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US

Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

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know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now.

http://mobile./;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

[Guest guest]

NaturalNews.com printable article

Originally published February 19 2008

Forty-Fold Increase in Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis in Children over Last Decade

by Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) The diagnosis of children with bipolar disorder increased 40-fold

in the time period between 1994 and 2003, a new study published in the Archives

of General Psychiatry has revealed.

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a term applied to a

condition in adults in which a person swings between severe manic highs --

characterized by high energy, little sleep, and frenetic activity -- and

depressive lows, characterized by not only negative emotions such as sadness,

anger and guilt, but also by disrupted sleep and eating patterns, irritability,

chronic pain and even suicidal thoughts. Diagnosis of children with the disorder

was very rare until the mid-1990s, when a number of psychiatrists began to

promote the view that the symptoms of the disorder manifest differently in

children.

According to this school of thought, bipolar children cycle between highs and

lows much more rapidly than adults, and in them the disorder is characterized by

frequent irritability and rage.

This change in perspective led the diagnosis of children to increase from 20,000

to 800,000 between 1993 and 2004, with the proportion of children diagnosed as

bipolar jumping to 1,003 per 100,000, or more than 1 percent (the rate in

adults, over the same period, nearly doubled to 1,069 per 100,000).

Skeptics, however, claim the numbers reveal a system of scientific fraud. " This

rapid increase in diagnosis of bipolar disorder can only be explained by either

a runaway epidemic infection or a medical fraud that seeks to label children as

'diseased' in order to sell them more drugs, " said consumer health advocate Mike

.

According the new study, nine of 10 children diagnosed as bipolar are treated

with at least one medication, and two-thirds of them are treated with two or

more drugs. These drugs create profitable, reliable revenue streams for drug

companies.

The data for the study were taken from annual government surveys of doctors.

The skyrocketing rate of childhood diagnosis has many people arguing over

whether bipolar disorder was previously under diagnosed, or whether

psychiatrists are now over diagnosing it.

" There's no question that there is misdiagnosis going on,'' said Sachs,

director of the bipolar and mood disorders program at Massachusetts General

Hospital in Boston. " You can dispute whether it's under- or overdiagnosis.''

Among the conditions in children that may easily be misdiagnosed as bipolar

disorder are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, schizophrenia

and Tourette syndrome. Misdiagnosis, in turn, may lead to inappropriate use of

drugs. " These children need better nutrition, not more drugs, " said Mike .

" Furthermore, most of the drugs being used to treat these children have never

been tested on children nor approved for use on children by the FDA. "

FAIR USE NOTICE: This message may contain copyrighted material. Such material is

made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human

rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc.

The sender asserts that this transmittal constitutes a 'fair use' of any such

copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US

Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Be a better friend, newshound, and

know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now.

http://mobile./;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

[Guest guest]

NaturalNews.com printable article

Originally published February 19 2008

Forty-Fold Increase in Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis in Children over Last Decade

by Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) The diagnosis of children with bipolar disorder increased 40-fold

in the time period between 1994 and 2003, a new study published in the Archives

of General Psychiatry has revealed.

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a term applied to a

condition in adults in which a person swings between severe manic highs --

characterized by high energy, little sleep, and frenetic activity -- and

depressive lows, characterized by not only negative emotions such as sadness,

anger and guilt, but also by disrupted sleep and eating patterns, irritability,

chronic pain and even suicidal thoughts. Diagnosis of children with the disorder

was very rare until the mid-1990s, when a number of psychiatrists began to

promote the view that the symptoms of the disorder manifest differently in

children.

According to this school of thought, bipolar children cycle between highs and

lows much more rapidly than adults, and in them the disorder is characterized by

frequent irritability and rage.

This change in perspective led the diagnosis of children to increase from 20,000

to 800,000 between 1993 and 2004, with the proportion of children diagnosed as

bipolar jumping to 1,003 per 100,000, or more than 1 percent (the rate in

adults, over the same period, nearly doubled to 1,069 per 100,000).

Skeptics, however, claim the numbers reveal a system of scientific fraud. " This

rapid increase in diagnosis of bipolar disorder can only be explained by either

a runaway epidemic infection or a medical fraud that seeks to label children as

'diseased' in order to sell them more drugs, " said consumer health advocate Mike

.

According the new study, nine of 10 children diagnosed as bipolar are treated

with at least one medication, and two-thirds of them are treated with two or

more drugs. These drugs create profitable, reliable revenue streams for drug

companies.

The data for the study were taken from annual government surveys of doctors.

The skyrocketing rate of childhood diagnosis has many people arguing over

whether bipolar disorder was previously under diagnosed, or whether

psychiatrists are now over diagnosing it.

" There's no question that there is misdiagnosis going on,'' said Sachs,

director of the bipolar and mood disorders program at Massachusetts General

Hospital in Boston. " You can dispute whether it's under- or overdiagnosis.''

Among the conditions in children that may easily be misdiagnosed as bipolar

disorder are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, schizophrenia

and Tourette syndrome. Misdiagnosis, in turn, may lead to inappropriate use of

drugs. " These children need better nutrition, not more drugs, " said Mike .

" Furthermore, most of the drugs being used to treat these children have never

been tested on children nor approved for use on children by the FDA. "

FAIR USE NOTICE: This message may contain copyrighted material. Such material is

made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human

rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc.

The sender asserts that this transmittal constitutes a 'fair use' of any such

copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US

Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Be a better friend, newshound, and

know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now.

http://mobile./;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

[Guest guest]

NaturalNews.com printable article

Originally published February 19 2008

Forty-Fold Increase in Bipolar Disorder Diagnosis in Children over Last Decade

by Gutierrez

(NaturalNews) The diagnosis of children with bipolar disorder increased 40-fold

in the time period between 1994 and 2003, a new study published in the Archives

of General Psychiatry has revealed.

Bipolar disorder, formerly known as manic depression, is a term applied to a

condition in adults in which a person swings between severe manic highs --

characterized by high energy, little sleep, and frenetic activity -- and

depressive lows, characterized by not only negative emotions such as sadness,

anger and guilt, but also by disrupted sleep and eating patterns, irritability,

chronic pain and even suicidal thoughts. Diagnosis of children with the disorder

was very rare until the mid-1990s, when a number of psychiatrists began to

promote the view that the symptoms of the disorder manifest differently in

children.

According to this school of thought, bipolar children cycle between highs and

lows much more rapidly than adults, and in them the disorder is characterized by

frequent irritability and rage.

This change in perspective led the diagnosis of children to increase from 20,000

to 800,000 between 1993 and 2004, with the proportion of children diagnosed as

bipolar jumping to 1,003 per 100,000, or more than 1 percent (the rate in

adults, over the same period, nearly doubled to 1,069 per 100,000).

Skeptics, however, claim the numbers reveal a system of scientific fraud. " This

rapid increase in diagnosis of bipolar disorder can only be explained by either

a runaway epidemic infection or a medical fraud that seeks to label children as

'diseased' in order to sell them more drugs, " said consumer health advocate Mike

.

According the new study, nine of 10 children diagnosed as bipolar are treated

with at least one medication, and two-thirds of them are treated with two or

more drugs. These drugs create profitable, reliable revenue streams for drug

companies.

The data for the study were taken from annual government surveys of doctors.

The skyrocketing rate of childhood diagnosis has many people arguing over

whether bipolar disorder was previously under diagnosed, or whether

psychiatrists are now over diagnosing it.

" There's no question that there is misdiagnosis going on,'' said Sachs,

director of the bipolar and mood disorders program at Massachusetts General

Hospital in Boston. " You can dispute whether it's under- or overdiagnosis.''

Among the conditions in children that may easily be misdiagnosed as bipolar

disorder are attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, depression, schizophrenia

and Tourette syndrome. Misdiagnosis, in turn, may lead to inappropriate use of

drugs. " These children need better nutrition, not more drugs, " said Mike .

" Furthermore, most of the drugs being used to treat these children have never

been tested on children nor approved for use on children by the FDA. "

FAIR USE NOTICE: This message may contain copyrighted material. Such material is

made available for educational purposes, to advance understanding of human

rights, democracy, scientific, moral, ethical, and social justice issues, etc.

The sender asserts that this transmittal constitutes a 'fair use' of any such

copyrighted material as provided for in Title 17 U.S.C. section 107 of the US

Copyright Law. This material is distributed without profit.

________________________________________________________________________________\

____

Be a better friend, newshound, and

know-it-all with Mobile. Try it now.

http://mobile./;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ