Every week in Canada, at least 500 000 active workers are unable to work due to mental illness.
Schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and major depression affect almost 10% of the Nord-American adult population, which means about 25 millions of people.
According to the Center for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH), taking into account the cost of health care and loss of productivity, mental health would represent an economic burden of $ 51 billion a year in Canada.
In the first 3 to 5 years, the diagnosis changes for 30 to 40% of patients who suffer from schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression (40 to 50% over 7 to 8 years).
In 2013-2014, schizophrenia and mood disorders accounted for the largest number of hospitalizations after childbirths.
20% of the population will suffer from mental disorders in their lifetime.
A faster and more accurate diagnosis should allow better support of the disease and consequently, better therapeutic results and a reduction in costs.
diaMentis is developing an objective tool based on retinal signal analysis to support the diagnosis of mental health disorders, helping clinicians to make a more accurate diagnosis earlier in the progression of the disease.
Schizophrenia, bipolar disorders and major depression (16% of the most disabling medical conditions) alone will affect nearly 10% of the population at some point in their lives.
The degree of difficulty in achieving earlier and accurate diagnosis is very high. This is also the case for the choice of the treatment or the dose to be prescribed.
Three of the top 15 most disabling medical conditions are mental health issues.
The economic impact on society and health care is major.
diaMentis is a private company, incorporated under Canadian Business Law. This is a spin-off company of Laval University, more specifically the Institut universitaire en santé mentale du Québec (IUSMQ).
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