Pig feed for bipolar disorder - Shorts - Brief Article

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  July, 2002  by Jule Klotter

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Crime Times (Vol. 8, No. 1, 2002) contains an article about a vitamin-mineral supplement that is being tested on people with bipolar disorder (manic depression). A preliminary study by nutrition researcher Bonnie Kaplan and colleagues at the University of Lethbridge in Canada found symptom improvement in 11 adult patients (age 19 to 46 years) during a six-month trial and a more than 50% decrease in the need for psychotrophic drugs [Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, (Vol. 62, No. 12, December 2001, 936-44)]. The only side effect was mild, temporary nausea. Charles Popper, a Harvard professor, replicated their experiment with 22 bipolar patients. Nineteen responded to the supplement. Of the 15 patients who were on medication, 11 were able to discontinue the drugs.

Engineer Anthony Stephan and his friend David Hardy developed the supplement used in these studies. Mr. Stephan's wife and two children suffered from bipolar disorder. His wife committed suicide. When Mr. Stephan described the children's symptoms and violent behavior to Mr. Hardy, his friend said that their behavior sounded like aggression found in pigs that was treated with a supplemented livestock feed. Using the pig feed as a model, the two men combined various vitamins and minerals and gave them to Mr. Stephan's children. Within a few weeks, the daughter was able to discontinue her medication, and the son's behavior was becoming normal. The men contacted the University of Lethbridge about their results, and officials asked Bonnie Kaplan to evaluate the supplement. Encouraged by the preliminary trial, the researchers are now conducting a randomized, placebo-controlled study with adults and several open-label trials with children.

Pig feed for depression? Crime Times 2002; Vol. 8, No. 1; p. 3

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