Researchers in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Calgary have found that a nutritional supplement has significant
benefits for people with a psychiatric condition known as bipolar disorder. Mental health researchers Bonnie Kaplan, PhD, and
Dr. Steve Simpson presented the results of a small-scale study to the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychiatric Association
yesterday in Victoria, B.C.

“The initial research looks at a small group of people with bipolar disorder, and our early results are extremely encouraging,”
says Bonnie Kaplan, PhD. “Our study shows that on average, people taking the supplements find their symptoms are reduced
by more than 50% compared with the symptoms they experienced while taking their usual medications.”

The open label study includes 10 men aged 20 – 46 years old who, thus far, have been taking the broad-based nutritional
supplement for an average of more than 6 months. Symptoms usually improve within a month.

Study results show that once the participants start taking the supplement, their need for traditional medications is reduced by
two-thirds. “For some patients, the supplement has entirely replaced their psychotropic medication and they have remained
well,” says Kaplan. People who previously needed an average of 2.8 psychotropic medications are now taking only 1.0
psychotropic medications along with the supplement. The study also finds that side effects from the supplement are minor
(nausea) and temporary.

The supplement has 36 ingredients, 34 of which are natural dietary vitamins and minerals including Vitamins A, C, D, E, various
B vitamins, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper and potassium. The other two ingredients are antioxidants.

“I was skeptical at the outset of this study,” says Kaplan. “However, the results are quite striking. The findings certainly warrant
further exploration of this supplement as a new treatment for bipolar disorder.”

The Alberta Science and Research Authority has given the research team a grant for a half million dollars to conduct a
randomized, placebo-controlled trial of about 100 people with bipolar disorder. It was launched this July, with results expected
in 2002.

“I’m very encouraged by the initial results of the doctors’ research,” says Alberta Innovation and Science Minister Lorne
Taylor, PhD. “Innovation and Science is all about finding new ways to treat old problems – and we shouldn’t be afraid to look
for ways to complement the excellent work being done in pharmaceutical research.”

The supplement, known as E.M. Power, was developed by The Synergy Group of Canada Inc., an Alberta-based organization
dedicated to researching and overcoming disorders of the Central Nervous System.

Kaplan’s work is funded by the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.

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