A new test called VeriPsych may help diagnose schizophrenia in children and adults. If true, this may lead to similar testing that could help confirm or deny a diagnosis of bipolar disorder.The report is based on a study in Spain where the test was found to be 83% accurate in confirming the schizophrenia diagnosis in patients already determined to have the illness. VeriPsych detects biomarkers in the bloodstream that had been found to be common in known schizophrenia patients.
The test by itself isn't intended to diagnose schizophrenia. Rather, it's meant to assist doctors diagnose the condition, especially when the symptoms could point to more than one mental illness. Since bipolar disorder and schizophrenia share many of the same symptoms, such a test could be very useful in distinguishing between the two illnesses.
Among the shared symptoms of schizophrenia and bipolar 1 disorder hallucinations, delusions and anhedonia. However, there are symptoms of each condition that are not present in the other, such as mood swings in BP.
More study is needed to validate VeriPsych, but these results are certainly promising. The idea that there could be a test for bipolar disorder in the future is exciting!
Photo: Will Powell
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