CNS Response Provides Review of an Eating Disorder Poster Delivered at the US Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress
November 03, 2008
Poster Indicates rEEG® -Guided Treatment Significantly Improves Patient Outcomes and Slashes Payer Costs for Patients with Eating Disorders and Comorbid Depression
Costa Mesa, Calif. – November 3, 2008 – CNS Response, Inc. (OTCBB: CNSO) reported today the results of a study presented at the U.S. Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress by James Greenblatt, M.D., Chief Medical Officer, Walden Behavioral Care Inpatient Psychiatry and Eating Disorder Programs, in Waltham, MA. The poster presentation, titled “EEG Guided Medication Predictions in Treatment Refractory Eating Disorder Patients with Comorbid Depression, Opportunities for Personalized Medicine in Managed Healthcare,” provided an analysis of a four-year cohort study to explore the use of rEEG® to facilitate medication selection for patients with an eating disorder and comorbid depression.
The study followed treatment of 13 patients, six of which were diagnosed with Anorexia Nervosa, four with Bulimia Nervosa and three with eating disorders not otherwise specified. Every patient responded well to rEEG-guided treatment. At baseline, patients’ average severity rating, as measured by the Clinical Global Severity rating, was 5.54, a value described as between severely ill and markedly ill. Average scores dropped to 2.85 at 8 weeks and 2.23 at six months. A rating of 3 is considered mildly ill and 2 is considered borderline mentally ill. Paired sample t-tests, a measure of probability of results due to random chance, were p<.001. Four patients completed two-year follow-up testing and all had sustained their treatment benefits with average ratings falling to 1.8, a rating between normal and borderline mentally ill.
In addition, the 13 patients in the study averaged a baseline depression severity rating, as measured by the 21-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) of 39.8, indicating moderate to severe depression,” commented Dr. Greenblatt. “At the end of eight weeks of rEEG-guided treatment, the HDRS score averaged a decrease of 67 percent to 13.2, and at the end of six months of rEEG-guided treatment, the scores showed a marked improvement with an average decrease of 79 percent to 8.5, from the initial baseline of 39.8. These results were also statistically significant (p<.001). Of the four patients who completed the two-year testing, all sustained their depression relief. The decrease in HDRS for the 13 patients is striking.
“In a field where there are no FDA approved medications for anorexia treatment and only fluoxetine (Prozac) approved for bulimia, rEEG-guidance toward the use of six medication classes and 14 different medications in this study has to be noted. The diversity of medications successfully used in treatment of this dually-diagnosed cohort extended beyond the available literature or our own clinical experience, and was one of the key findings of this study. Without the objective physiologic guidance provided by rEEG, implementing such a broad-based strategy would be extremely difficult,” added Dr. Greenblatt.”
Another significant benefit of rEEG is the ability to significantly reduce the cost of care. The estimated cost of inpatient care for the 13 patients was approximately $1.7 million during the two years prior to rEEG analysis. The cost of care has since been reduced 86 percent to approximately $240,000 (post rEEG®). Additional savings were realized in pharmaceutical and outpatient treatment.
The full poster presentation and analysis of results are available at www.cnsresponse.com/edposterpresentation
“Anorexia Nervosa is a potentially fatal illness that has had few treatment advances,” said CNS Response Chief Executive Officer Len Brandt. “Dr. Greenblatt’s study, demonstrating durable benefits when pharmacotherapy is customized to the patient’s own brain function, is truly important. Clinicians and payers need to know about this team’s work and its benefits to patients.”
Brandt continued, “Not only are these health benefits demonstrated in severe eating disorders, but this study demonstrates long-term benefit in managing treatment-resistant depression (TRD). At the end of October we announced results of an evidenced-based review by the Center for Health Economics, Epidemiology and Science Policy at United BioSource, concluding that rEEG guidance for TRD is superior in published evidence to that of the American Psychiatric Association, which serves as the basis for reimbursement for many healthcare managers. Dr. Greenblatt’s study, not included in that review, adds to the expanding base of superior evidence in rEEG guiding personalized therapy in treating TRD.
“The findings in this poster also suggest eating disorders are indications that could be added to those opportunities for economic savings reviewed by the Analysis Group. That review suggests significant potential savings of $47 million in a sample five-million member health plan, when utilizing rEEG-guidance in treatment resistance of depression, bipolar, ADHD and anxiety. With the extraordinary savings demonstrated in this study, I think it is reasonable to add anorexia and bulimia treatment as additional indications where significant health plan savings can be realized,” added Brandt.
“We would like to recognize Dr. Greenblatt’s dedicated and disciplined commitment to providing a high quality study,” commented CNS Response Chief Medical Officer Daniel Hoffman, M.D. “Treatment histories were recorded up to 24 months prior to the rEEG analysis and from six to 24 months post rEEG-guided treatment, demonstrating not just the treatment response, but that the response was durable – making this one of the most notable and important studies available in the industry. It is noteworthy that this is the second publication of long-term results demonstrating rEEG’s advantages in guiding pharmacotherapy in eating disorders. In 2005 a study was published in a scientific poster at a National Institute of Mental Health Symposium (NCDEU) demonstrating compelling benefits of rEEG personalized mental health treatment guidance.”
About CNS Response
CNS Response is a life-sciences data company whose patented system provides treatment guidance to psychiatrists and other physicians for patients with behavioral (mental or addictive) disorders. This technology allows CNS Response to create and provide simple reports (“rEEG® Reports”) that specifically guide physicians to treatment strategies based on the patient’s own physiology.
rEEG® utilizes traditional electroencephalography (EEG) in conjunction with a normative database and a proprietary clinical (symptomatic) database to identify the following: (1) medication classes most likely to be needed; and (2) medications within these classes with the most probable treatment potential for each patient. Reports are provided to physicians in a relationship analogous to that of a reference laboratory. Prospective, retrospective and field studies of treatment-resistant patients have reported treatment success of 70% or greater in managed care, outpatient psychiatric and residential substance abuse clinical settings.
In addition to providing analytical support to physicians, CNS Response is also an aid to pharmaceutical developers, who can use rEEG to (1) stratify study populations to improve the success of FDA clinical trials; (2) provide insight on effective therapeutic dosing of investigational drugs; (3) identify additional indications for psychiatric medications; (4) provide insight into effective drug combinations; and (5) discover opportunities for decision analytics and support. In addition to these applications, CNS Response continues to investigate the use of rEEG analysis for development of proprietary pharmaceutical opportunities.
Safe Harbor Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Except for the historical information contained herein, the matters discussed are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, as amended. These statements involve risks and uncertainties as set forth in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These risks and uncertainties could cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking statements made herein.
Contact:
Investor and Media Relations:
Marty Tullio
McCloud Communications LLC
949.553.9748
marty@mccloudcommunications.com
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