Bipolar kids respond to mood stabilizers.

• Position: Drug Therapy

Children with psychiatric problems who also have a high risk of developing bipolar disorder respond well to a mood-stabilizing drug, maintains a study that is the first to examine the drug's effect on youngsters predisposed to manic depression. Researchers at Stanford (Calif.) University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital, Palo Alto, Calif., say determining the correct medication for these youngsters is crucial because standard drug therapies, such as antidepressants and stimulants, may in fact trigger manic episodes, exacerbating their underlying condition.

The researchers found that more than three-quarters of at-risk kids showed improvement in their mood or behavioral disorders after receiving a drug called divalproex. Used to treat mania in adults, the chemical essentially "cools oft the brain," says Kiki Chang, assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences.

Bipolar disorder affects 2,200,000 Americans--individuals experiencing extreme and debilitating highs and lows. Children known as "bipolar offspring" have a parent with the disease but have not yet developed it themselves. Those suffering from other psychiatric problems also are more likely to develop the disease.

Researchers assessed patients for manic and depressive symptoms to determine the severity of their conditions. After stopping any current medications, the youngsters took divalproex for 12 weeks and...