David Hardy, an animal feed specialist from Raymond in southern Alberta, did more than wonder about this discrepancy in cures. By applying a farm-style micronutrient mix of vitamins and minerals to people, Mr. Hardy has apparently learned to heal manic depression in most cases. A medical breakthrough of this importance by a layman is, naturally, the stuff of legend. But the good news may get even better. The Hardy supplement, suggest several researchers from Harvard and Calgary, could help revolutionize scientific understanding about how the human brain works and heals.

Terrible tragedy among friends, not scientific curiosity, drew Mr. Hardy toward his assault on bipolar affective disorder (the clinical term for manic depression). In January 1994, Debbie Stephan took her own life in Cardston, Alta., after many years of severe bipolar misery. At the time, two of her 10 children had already been diagnosed as bipolar and a third would later become hypomanic.[A boy or girl who has one bipolar parent has about a 25% chance of being affected. The probability reaches 50% to 75% when both parents are afflicted.] "The death of my wife devastated me, and my children were in terrible danger," recalls Tony Stephan, a power engineer. "I searched exhaustively for help along every possible medical avenue."

Two years after Debbie's death, the Stephan family's situation was truly grim. Joseph--already 215 pounds at age 15--was becoming so violent that forced hospitalization appeared inevitable. He and his sister Autumn had been afflicted with ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in their childhood. Autumn started exhibiting bipolar signs by 12 years old. The birth of her own son at age 20 triggered a massive onset. Daily cycles between mania and depression escalated to hallucinations and hearing voices. The young mother feared constantly that her husband, Dana Stringam, was conspiring to kill her and she often acted out violently.

At this point, Messrs. Hardy and Stephan--both Mormons from neighbouring communities--agreed to try a micronutrient mix with Joseph. The notion is not so outlandish as it might seem. Pigs, like people, are omnivores, with relatively high intelligence to boot. Patient Zero, as Joseph Stephan likes to call himself, became free of manic depressive symptoms within 30 days. More than five years later, he still lives and works normally.

The results were equally dramatic with his sister Autumn. "I could feel real emotions again. I can't describe how lovely that is after so much illness and drugs," Ms. Stringam recalls. By careful use of the micronutrient mix, she has had two more children with no difficulty. A profound partnership developed between her father and David Hardy as the two men pondered and prayed about the near-miracle unfolding before their grateful eyes.

"The difficulty appears to be that certain people are short of trace minerals within their system and do not readily take up these micronutrients when they are available," explains Mr. Hardy, who holds a degree in biology. He cites a study from Johns Hopkins University as a "strong indicator" favouring this diagnosis. Among frequent-attender patients whose visits to the hospital were prompted by digestive-tract disorders, 90% also suffered from a mental disorder. Many of these victims had two mental disorders.

Synergy Group of Canada was founded by the Hardy-Stephan duo to manufacture and distribute the concoction that cured the Stephan children, now called EM Power. The supplement contains 36 ordinary minerals, vitamins and amino acids. So common are these ingredients that the formula cannot be effectively patented and the company may never make much money. But because none of its content is classified as pharmaceutical, the supplement can be distributed without prescription.

Although designed originally with bipolar in mind, EM Power has apparently been quite effective for depression as well. People with ailments ranging from ADHD to schizophrenia continue to try the nutraceutical, sometimes with success. This experimentation mimics the development of micronutrients for agriculture, Mr. Hardy comments. "In animal nutrition, we learned by trial and error that all of the needed micronutrients not only have to be present but they must be present in the right proportions. That factor is important to successful uptake by the body, whether human or animal," Mr. Hardy says. "We don't know why a specific blend works in one situation or another, just that it does."

Many researchers have focused on trace minerals over the past half-century. (Vitamins come into play because they enable the human body to utilize minerals.) Leading much of that investigation was Walter Mertz, former director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Human Nutrition Research Center, in Maryland. He also edited multiple editions of a standard text, Trace Elements in Human and Animal Nutrition. In 1955, Dr. Mertz himself discovered that chromium is a vital trace nutrient.

"Every disease has a preliminary appearance when it is not a disease but only a slight metabolic abnormality," explains the retired scientist. "For instance, glucose intolerance precedes the onset of diabetes. The presence of chromium is essential to preventing that progression from occurring." Dr. Mertz believes that the quantities of most trace minerals required by the human body are understood. But not all. "That question is still the subject of large research projects in the United States. The challenges in analysis are formidable," he notes. Furthermore, research to date has only indicated a vital role for trace minerals in preventing disease. To date, Dr. Mertz cautions, conventional health specialists have not figured out how to use them in curing mental illness.

Keenly aware of the previous limits of micronutrients for healing is Margaret Shirley, a nurse who has worked in emergency wards in the Lower Mainland of B.C. and in Alberta. At age 31, she had her first "episode" of clinical depression. It lasted a year, the second episode endured two years and several more followed. "I had always been a normal, hard-working person," says Ms. Shirley, now 50. "My symptoms originally occurred when I had my first child, which is common. The feelings involved in deep depression cannot really be understood by someone who hasn't experienced them but, believe me, they are terrible. To recover, I tried everything, including the conventional drugs as well as nutrients."

Ms. Shirley, who lives in Bragg Creek west of Calgary, spent a costly month at a clinic in Tucson, Arizona. There she took micronutrients intravenously to help their absorption. The veteran nurse was also treated by an internationally known doctor in Denver. Furthermore, she self-treated with near-raw foods and other techniques implemented with the counsel of a pharmacist who had a deep interest in nutrition. "Nothing helped enough. The probability, I knew, was that my depressive episodes would get more frequent and more severe in intensity. Frankly, I thought my condition would kill me."

A year ago, the nurse heard about the Synergy Group. "For me, EM Power just worked. I am completely okay now," testifies Ms. Shirley. "Some people may wonder if the healing isn't psychosomatic, some sort of placebo effect. But anyone who's been through an ordeal like bipolar or clinical depression knows that a deep, stable sense of mental health cannot possibly be restored by positive thinking or anything else less substantial than a genuine cure."

News about EM Power first spread by word of mouth among bipolar victims. From the beginning, however, Synergy's two co-founders realized that scientific validation was essential to getting their solution to millions of sufferers. "We visited a lot of offices trying to persuade doctors and scientists to look at our results. There was a lot of scepticism, to say the least," remembers Mr. Stephan with a smile. Bonnie Kaplan, a research psychologist at the University of Calgary and Alberta Children's Hospital, initially assumed they were a couple of "snake oil" salesmen peddling vitamins, and refused to see them. But Synergy's customers were trained to self-report their symptoms. Slowly an impressive record of documented success emerged. Notified by a Lethbridge colleague, Dr. Kaplan reconsidered. She and Steve Simpson, a psychiatrist at Calgary's Foothills Hospital and the U of C, decided to test EM Power on the next handful of bipolar patients who came through the door.

The results were dramatic. On average, the 14 patients taking the supplement found their symptoms reduced by more than 50% compared to their earlier experience with psychotropic drugs. To illustrate the significance of those findings, Dr. Kaplan draws an analogy with a new species of corn. "Suppose corn normally grows six feet tall, but someone comes up with a new type of seed which appears to grow two inches taller. To demonstrate that the two-inch improvement is definitely real, you'd have to grow many acres of corn in a variety of testing conditions. But let's say that you are handed 10 seeds of a new corn variety and those plants grow to an average of 12 feet. At that point, even with a small sample, you'd definitely be very interested. That's analogous to what happened with our case series on EM Power."

In October 2000, a Kaplan/Simpson paper on their bipolar work drew considerable attention when presented to a meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association in Victoria. Last month, it was printed in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, a prestigious U.S. publication. Harvard University psychiatrist Charles Popper, who has monitored patients within his own practice, also reported remarkable results in the December issue of the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry: "Among the 15 patients who were being treated with medications when they began the nutritional supplement, 11 patients have been stable for six to nine months without psychiatric medications." The most common side effect is nausea from ingesting so many supplement capsules per day. Headaches and loose stools occur, but much less frequently. No classical symptoms of vitamin or mineral toxicity have cropped up.

In his article, Dr. Popper wonders how the Hardy-Stefan nutraceutical functions physiologically: "Might minerals serve as catalysts for enzymes involved in neurotransmitter metabolism, change drug biotransformation, modify membrane receptors or channels, influence second or third messenger systems, or alter gene expression?" The psychiatrist notes that the most common medication for treating bipolar patients is lithium, itself a mineral. "The possibilities if there were numerous interacting micronutrients are staggering." Given sufficient research, he speculates, specific micronutrient formulas may be tailored for various ailments in different people.

The Harvard doctor notes that experimentation with more than one variable is deeply alien to conventional science. That is the biggest reason why the by-guess-and-by-golly success of testing combinations on animals' mental health by agribusiness has been overlooked for so long. However, Dr. Popper adds one pointed warning to colleagues about combining strong nutritional supplements with existing psychoactive prescriptions: "Psychiatrists do not normally think of vitamins or minerals as modifiers of psychiatric medications, but early anecdotal experience with this nutrient supplement suggests that there may be strong micronutrient-medication interactions."

Simply put, many psychotropic drugs would make a normal person insane. Therefore, when the Hardy-Stephan supplement begins to have its healing effect, any ongoing effects of psychotropic drugs can become highly destabilizing for bipolar and depression victims. The after-effects of these medicines can crop up sporadically for years, much like LSD flashbacks, and withdrawal symptoms from the most addictive chemicals are comparable in painful intensity to cocaine habituation.

Synergy distributes EM Power to patients by direct purchase, via the Internet or by phone (1-888-TRUEHOP). The price includes telephone advice from a Truehope assistant, many of whom are themselves recovered bipolar victims. These counsellors, who usually work for little more than their expenses, help handle the potentially perilous transition from psychotropic medications. A patient normally takes 32 capsules per day until his symptoms disappear, at a cost of about $220 per month. The ongoing maintenance dosage varies widely but averages about 16 capsules. In the past year, the number of customers has mushroomed from 1,000 to 3,000.

"The transition period to normalcy is often difficult and sometimes dangerous," Tony Stephan confirms. "Besides the drug complications, a patient may also be depressed as he returns to reality and a realistic perception of his life. Your marriage, your relationships with your children, your career and your finances may all be in ruins. We say 40% of the work is done by the supplement, 60% by our support system." That statement can be amply confirmed by reading posts on the discussion forum at truehope.com, the Synergy Web site. The messages are, in effect, reports from the front lines of a war. Clients already taking the nutraceutical must wonder for weeks if they will be among those helped or not. Patients with bowel-related digestive problems struggle particularly hard while they figure out how they can somehow absorb the micronutrients in the supplement.

The most vociferous sceptic concerning Synergy's work is Terry Polevoy, a doctor who runs an acne clinic in Kitchener, Ont. He also administers an anti-quackery Web site called healthwatcher.net as a "kind of hobby." Dr. Polevoy says he has fielded complaints about EM Power from the Internet and still has many questions about the supplement. "This is powerful stuff which is even being used on children without pharmaceutical evaluation," the physician notes. Yet he acknowledges that "someone close to me" was being treated for bipolar symptoms with four or five psychotropic drugs. All had potentially dangerous side effects. Nonetheless, Dr. Polevoy wants Synergy's claims subjected to a proper clinical trial.

So does Synergy. In 2000, the Alberta government announced a $554,000 grant for a double-blind testing of EM Power by the University of Calgary. One hundred patients were scheduled to be assessed over two years. (Double-blind refers to the fact that neither the staff dispensing the pills nor the patients themselves will know which group is receiving the nutraceutical and which is not.)

But the testing proposal has encountered procedural obstacles, resulting in repeated delays which have frustrated Dr. Kaplan. Health Canada, a 6,000-employee leviathan, recently placed the regulation of micronutrients under its newly organized Health Products and Food Branch. Unfortunately, the directorate took regulatory jurisdiction before it created evaluation procedures for new products. After much bureaucratic ado, Dr. Kaplan says, she and Dr. Simpson received a final set of directives from Health Canada in late December. The trial should proceed shortly.

Bipolar affective disorder: the highs and lows of hell

UNTIL now, bipolar effective disorder has been an incurable malady which is believed to afflict one or two North Americans in 100. The disease, also called manic depression, triggers severe cycles of emotional highs and lows. Among its 300,000 or more Canadian victims is Gayle Duncan, a 57-year-old Albertan. "I was an athletic girl and honour student, but I tried to commit suicide when I was 15," recalls the former teacher, who was born at Olds, Alta. "My disease has been hell on earth for my two children and me."

In many ways, Ms. Duncan is a classic bipolar victim, who tend to be bright. Despite her difficulties, she did graduate from the University of Alberta and then taught in Kelowna and Calgary. But the depression-prone woman tried to commit suicide five more times. Once, a neighbour praying for her felt suddenly moved to visit and found her near death from an overdose. On another occasion, crashing her Volkswagen Beetle deliberately into a concrete overpass left Ms. Duncan with serious physical injuries. "I'm alive by a miracle," she professes.

The Lethbridge resident has spent many months in psychiatric wards over the years. Long courses of drugs and electroconvulsive shock therapy erased many of her memories. Her marriage and her career dissolved. Her emotions roller-coastered between long, shattering lows and occasional obsessive highs, often saturated with fury. And Ms. Duncan's woes are grimly common.

In the depressive phase, waves of deep despair can prevent the bipolar victim from performing simple tasks like getting dressed in the morning or feeding her children. A mental fog can make thinking impossible, even for tasks like adding two plus two. Overeating and weight gain are routine, as is paralyzing disinterest in other people and previously loved activities. Holding a job usually becomes impossible, even with medication. An estimated 15% commit suicide.

The shift to mania can occur in five minutes or five months. At that point, exhilarating overconfidence commonly leads to foolishness like buying a $40,000 sports car or harassing the owners of a ranch to sell it. A man who is normally frightened of snakes may arrive home with several of them draped around his neck. To reduce the government's need for taxes, a woman once planted coins in the Alberta Legislature grounds so money trees would grow. Thoughts seem to flow at great speed. The mania victim may not sleep for days, starting and abandoning one project after another. Elation can easily turn to rage.

Manics sometimes believe they are conversing with God or angels. Reckless speeding may occur. Promiscuity is also common, and a mild example would be attempting to undress at a Christmas party. Far more serious was the normally chaste woman who wandered along a river sleeping with every willing man she met. Another victim, a churchgoing mother of two, shaved her head and dyed the stubble purple, then went hitchhiking. She had sex with a series of truckers, becoming pregnant in the process. Deeds performed while manic can severely reinforce the depressive stage when it recurs in due course.

Part and parcel of bipolar's deadly horror has been its treatment. Lithium, the most commonly prescribed pharmaceutical, can only diminish the symptoms, not cure the illness, and it frequently fails to achieve even that. Lithium is also dangerous to people with kidney trouble and some other physical conditions. It may interact with many other substances, some as common as salt and caffeine. In the event of problems, doctors employ scores of other emotion-muffling drugs, some severely addictive and many with nasty side effects. Bipolar symptoms may then be complicated rather than cured by the drug therapy.

Today, Ms. Duncan considers herself fully recovered with the help of the mineral-vitamin supplement pioneered by David Hardy's Synergy Group (see main story). "For 40 years, no medicine really worked for me. Then, in July 1999, David took me into his program. I started decreasing the use of my five prescribed psychotropic medicines. By September, I was drug-free for good. I've lost 40 pounds and my emotional equilibrium is excellent. My kids and I love each other. Even my father and I were able to make up and become very close. I realize now that his long-term alcoholism was due to a mental condition similar to mine. He and I sang and prayed together daily. My dad's dead now, but he did come to Christ. What a journey our family has been on. And how I hope that this medicine will be accepted by the millions of other people still suffering. I think about them every day."

Psychotropic meds can harm as well as heal

THE risks of psychotropic drugs affect more than bipolar victims. An excellent example is paroxetine, most commonly sold under the trade name Paxil. Unquestionably, the drug often helps people who have difficulty with depression. IMS Health Canada, a market data firm, reports that Canadians absorb three million prescriptions for paroxetine annually, making it the nation's eighth most commonly prescribed drug. But an intervention which affects brain chemistry can be problematic, too.

In one clinical trial, 16% of patients discontinued the use of paroxetine due to side effects such as hallucinations and paranoia, severe shakes, the washing out of their emotions and more. Paroxetine triggers mania in 2% of bipolar patients, according to another study. Although patients are often told that the drug is non-addictive, withdrawal symptoms can feel horrid. And an article in the American Journal of Epidemiology, published in May 2000, associates two years or more of paroxetine usage with a 720% increase in the incidence of breast cancer.

The spreading plague of depression

FOR Canadians, the trend toward mental illness appears downright alarming. IMS Health Canada, a Montreal firm which tracks healthcare, says depression prompted 7.8 million visits to doctors in 2000. That figure has risen by 36% over a period of five years. Only high blood pressure causes more trips to physicians. Canadian prescriptions for psychotherapeutic drugs during 2000 rose by 14% in just one year, according to IMS, and by 21% in the U.S. Among other troubling indicators, B.C. has just created a separate ministry for mental health, while mentally related treatments now cost the Alberta government about $2 billion annually.

"The burden of disease has shifted from traditional physical killers to psychiatric disorders," says Bill Wilkerson, co-founder of the Business and Economic Round Table on Mental Health. His career has spanned crisis management assignments for former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, the CBC, ITT and the Royal Bank. He also worked as chief of staff for the City of Toronto and CEO of Liberty Health (formerly Ontario Blue Cross). "Health Canada estimates that mental illness costs Canada $14 billion annually," Mr. Wilkerson comments. "I think the true figure, including lost productivity, would be twice as high."

In a review released two years ago, the Round Table estimated that three million Canadians suffer from significant depression. If that is true, only 6% of all cases have been diagnosed and treated. In the report, Royal LePage president Colum Bastable--a founding member of the three-year-old Round Table--acknowledges that he had previously been sceptical about the issue's importance for business. "I don't need more convincing [now]," he states.

A Harvard University study undertaken for the World Health Organization and the World Bank assessed depression as the fourth-ranked factor in the total burden of global disease. As people live longer, psychological problems are increasing. "An almost indescribable mingling of forces produces mental illness," Mr. Wilkerson says. Suspected factors range from stress and violence to the mysteries of the human brain. Nutritionally, too many North Americans prefer to eat diets laden with junk food and highly processed ingredients.

The risks are not just mental. Depression is highly associated with cardiovascular disease and a far greater risk of heart attack. "Business must pay more attention, especially to depression," Mr. Wilkerson advises. "In particular, we still don't know nearly enough about the relationship between the physical and psychological factors in mental illness."
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