IN the throes of the elation stage, artists and writers with manic depression have created great works. But the disease also be destructive, resulting in broken families, financial disaster and alcoholism.
Treatment for manic depression would improve if psychiatrists understood the causes. In the face of strong evidence that heredity is a factor, researchers at Trinity College Dublin are seeking Irish volunteers in their search for the genes which cause manic depression, also known as bipolar affective disorder. The researchers, based in Dublin and Cork, need to find 250 Irish families with two or more siblings who have the condition.
The project is funded by the Wellcome Trust under the supervision of Dr Michael Gill, senior lecturer in psychiatry at Trinity and Dr Patrick McKeon of St Patrick's Hospital, Dublin. Dr McKeon is the medical spokesman for Aware, the depression support group.
Bipolar affective disorder is characterised by extreme mood swings. When elated, the sufferer may overspend, plan grandiose schemes or appear easily distracted. When depressed, the sufferer feels extremely low.
The evidence for a genetic background to the condition includes the fact that the risk of developing manic depression for a first degree relative of someone with the disorder is one in 10, compared to one in 200 among the general population. Studies, of twins have shown the rate of developing manic depression for the identical twin of someone with the disorder is three to five times higher than it is for someone who is the non identical twin of a sufferer.
Dr Brian Larsen, one of the psychiatrists conducting the research, says there is likely to be, no single gene which guarantees that a person will suffer manic depression. Rather, there are probably one or more "susceptibility genes" which predispose a person to the disorder.
Volunteering for this project involves being interviewed and giving a small blood sample for DNA testing. The parents of volunteers will also be asked for blood samples.
Volunteers should contact Dr Brian Larsen or Nurse Claire Comerford at the Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St James's Hospital, Dublin 01 6082465; or in Cork, Dr Ann Payne, psychiatrist, or Nurse Robert O'Connell at Cork University Hospital (021) 342 729.