Digital therapy based on body rhythms helps prevent depression and bipolar relapses, Korean study finds

A digital therapy that treats the body’s circadian rhythm as a target for depression and bipolar disorder has been published in the American Journal of Psychiatry, one of the field’s leading journals.

The app, called CRM, was developed by a research team led by Lee Heon-jeong, a psychiatry professor at Korea University Anam Hospital, together with Hucircadian, a subsidiary of Korea University Holdings. It uses a smartphone and wearable devices to analyze sleep, physical activity, heart rate and light exposure. The app then recommends wake-up times, light exposure and activity patterns suited to each person’s biological rhythm.

Unlike ordinary health-management apps, CRM aims to reduce the recurrence of mood disorders by directly targeting circadian rhythms. The team conducted a one-year, multicenter, double-blind randomized clinical trial involving 93 patients with depression or bipolar disorder. Patients who used the placebo app experienced mood-episode relapses at roughly 3.4 times the rate of those who used CRM. The CRM group also took significantly longer to experience a relapse.

The study appeared in the journal on Sept. 1. It was also selected for an AJP Audio interview, a feature in which the journal invites authors of notable monthly studies to discuss their research. Lee said, “CRM could become a new treatment strategy that, when used alongside medication, helps prevent relapses and allows patients with mood disorders to remain stable for longer.” The team is now pursuing clinical trials to secure approval for prescriptions in South Korea.

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CRM could become a new treatment strategy that, when used alongside medication, helps prevent relapses and allows patients with mood disorders to remain stable for longer.