Local 12: 'The Mobility Study' for bipolar disorder

A study being led by UC doctors could help in the treatment of those living with bipolar disorder.

The study, called "The Mobility Study," is open to both adolescents and adults locally and across the country. It's one of the few large-scale trials ever conducted on weight gain and side effects of medication to treat it that some say can interfere with the journey to find the right treatment.

One of the lead researchers is Dr. Melissa DelBello, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at UC. She's a child and adolescent psychiatrist.

"Basically, we're looking at the difference between healthy lifestyle intervention, which everyone in the study gets, versus healthy lifestyle intervention, plus a medication called metformin," DelBello says. "Metformin has been shown to potentially decrease weight gain associated with these medications, but it's been shown in very small, very specific populations."

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