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Bipolar Disorder Patients (bipolar + disorder_patient)
Selected AbstractsRapid-cycling bipolar disorder: effects of long-term treatmentsACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 1 2003L. Tondo Objective: To compare responses to long-term treatment of rapid-cycling (RC) vs. non-RC bipolar disorder patients and assess relative effectiveness of specific agents in RC patients. Method: Studies identified by literature searching were analyzed for effects of RC status and treatment-type on clinical outcome (recurrence or non-improvement per exposure-time), using random-effects methods to estimate pooled rates and their 95% CI for quantitative meta-analytic modeling. Results: Data were obtained from 16 reports with 25 trial-arms involving 1856 (905 RC and 951 non-RC) patients treated with carbamazepine, lamotrigine, lithium, topiramate, or valproate, alone or with other agents over an average of 47.5 months (7347 total patient-years). Estimated RC prevalence was 15.4%. Crude rates (%/month) of recurrence (2.31/1.20) and clinical non-improvement (1.93/0.49) averaged 2.9-fold greater in RC vs. non-RC subjects. The pooled RC/non-RC risk ratio (RR) for inferior treatment-response (in 13 direct comparisons) was 1.40 (CI 1.26,1.56; P < 0.0001). Pooled crude recurrence and non-improvement rates suggested no clear advantage for any treatment, nor superiority for anticonvulsants over lithium. However, only lithium vs. carbamazepine could be directly compared (in four treatment-arms) meta-analytically in RC patients (RR = 0.93, CI 0.74,1.18, indicating no difference in effectiveness). Conclusion: As expected, RC was associated with lower effectiveness of all treatments evaluated. Direct comparisons of specific treatment alternatives for RC patients were rare, and provided no secure evidence of superiority of any treatment. Additional long-term studies comparing RC/non-RC patients randomized to specific treatments are required. [source] Factors associated with treatment nonadherence among US bipolar disorder patients,HUMAN PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY: CLINICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL, Issue 2 2008Ross J. Baldessarini Abstract Objective Since sustained treatment-adherence is often problematic and may limit clinical outcomes among bipolar disorder (BPD) patients, we sought risk factors to guide clinical prediction of nonadherence. Methods Data were from a 2005 US national sample providing questionnaire responses by 131 randomly selected prescribing psychiatrists and their adult BPD patients. We contrasted demographic and clinical factors in treatment-adherent versus nonadherent patients (strictly defined as missing ,1 dose within 10 days) in univariate analyses followed by multivariate logistic-regression modeling. Results Of 429 DSM-IV BPD patients (79% type-I; 62% women; 17% minorities), 34% reported missing,,,1 dose of psychotropic medication within 10 days, 20% missed entire daily doses at least once, and only 2.5% missed all doses for 10 days. However, their prescribing psychiatrists considered only 6% as treatment-nonadherent. Factors significantly associated with nonadherence in multivariate modeling ranked: alcohol-dependence,>,youth,>,greater affective morbidity,>,various side effects,,,comorbid obsessive-compulsive disorder,,,recovering from mania-hypomania. Unrelated were sex, diagnostic subtype, and other comorbidities. Since most patients received,,,2 psychotropics, potential relationships between treatment-complexity and adherence were obscured. Conclusions Prevalent treatment-nonadherence among American BPD patients, and striking underestimation of the problem by prescribing clinicians may encourage increasingly complex treatment-regimens of untested value, but added expense, risk of adverse effects, and uncertain impact on treatment-adherence itself. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The role of vascular risk factors in late onset bipolar disorder,INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GERIATRIC PSYCHIATRY, Issue 8 2007Hari Subramaniam Abstract Background The association between late life depression and cerebro-vascular risk and cerebro-vascular disease is well established. Do similar links exist with late onset bipolar disorder? Aims and Objectives Patients with early onset (less than 60 years of age) bipolar disorder were compared with those of late onset (aged 60 and above) in relation to cognitive function, physical health and vascular risk factors. Method Cross-sectional survey of elderly bipolar disorder patients (above 65 years) involved with secondary care mental health services. Thirty patients with early onset were compared with 20 patients with a late onset bipolar disorder. Diagnosis of bipolar disorder was according to ICD-10 criteria and without an associated clinical diagnosis of dementia. Assessment of cognition included tests of frontal-executive function, and cerebro-vascular risk was quantified with the Framingham stroke risk score. Results The late onset group had a higher stroke risk score than the early onset group, this difference persisting despite taking age and gender differences into account. However, late onset patients' cognitive function (including frontal lobe tests) and physical health status was no different to the early onset group. Conclusion There is higher ,cerebrovascular risk' in elderly patients with late onset bipolar disorder, compared to patients with an early onset. This suggests that cerebrovascular risk may be an important factor for the expression of bipolar disorders in later life, and has significant management implications for older bipolar patients. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Pilot Study of Naltrexone in Outpatients With Bipolar Disorder and Alcohol DependenceALCOHOLISM, Issue 11 2009E. Sherwood Brown Background:, Alcohol dependence is extremely common in patients with bipolar disorder and is associated with unfavorable outcomes including treatment nonadherence, violence, increased hospitalization, and decreased quality of life. While naltrexone is a standard treatment for alcohol dependence, no controlled trials have examined its use in patients with co-morbid bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence. In this pilot study, the efficacy of naltrexone in reducing alcohol use and on mood symptoms was assessed in bipolar disorder and alcohol dependence. Methods:, Fifty adult outpatients with bipolar I or II disorders and current alcohol dependence with active alcohol use were randomized to 12 weeks of naltrexone (50 mg/d) add-on therapy or placebo. Both groups received manual-driven cognitive behavioral therapy designed for patients with bipolar disorder and substance-use disorders. Drinking days and heavy drinking days, alcohol craving, liver enzymes, and manic and depressed mood symptoms were assessed. Results:, The 2 groups were similar in baseline and demographic characteristics. Naltrexone showed trends (p < 0.10) toward a greater decrease in drinking days (binary outcome), alcohol craving, and some liver enzyme levels than placebo. Side effects were similar in the 2 groups. Response to naltrexone was significantly related to medication adherence. Conclusions:, Results suggest the potential value and acceptable tolerability of naltrexone for alcohol dependence in bipolar disorder patients. A larger trial is needed to establish efficacy. [source] The common adolescent bipolar phenotype shows positive biases in emotional processingBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 6 2010Philippa L Rock Rock PL, Goodwin GM, Harmer CJ. The common adolescent bipolar phenotype shows positive biases in emotional processing. Bipolar Disord 2010: 12: 606,615. © 2010 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2010 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Objectives:, Bipolar disorder is associated with abnormalities in emotional processing that persist into periods of remission. However, studies of euthymic bipolar disorder patients may be confounded by the experience of mood episodes and medication. We therefore assessed an adolescent group for vulnerability markers associated with the bipolar phenotype. Methods:, The Mood Disorder Questionnaire (MDQ) is a screening tool for bipolar disorder that targets mood-elevation symptoms. We selected 32 high-scoring students (, 7 symptoms) with the adolescent bipolar phenotype and 30 low-scoring controls (, 3 symptoms) and screened them with the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview,Plus for bipolar disorder and other psychiatric disorders. We investigated emotional processing by assessing facial expression recognition, emotional memory, emotion-potentiated startle, and a dot-probe task. Results:, Of the high-MDQ participants, 12 were in remission from bipolar disorder defined by DSM-IV-TR and interview (bipolar II disorder/bipolar disorder not otherwise specified) and 3 from major depressive disorder. High-MDQ participants had higher levels of neuroticism, low mood, and lifetime anxiety comorbidity and alcohol dependence compared with low-MDQ participants. The high-MDQ group showed facilitated recognition of surprised and neutral facial expressions and enhanced processing of positive versus negative information in emotional recognition memory and emotion-potentiated startle. There were no effects on emotional categorisation/recall memory or attentional bias in the dot-probe task. Conclusions:, These results suggest that students with the common adolescent bipolar phenotype show positive emotional processing biases despite increased levels of neuroticism, low mood, and anxiety. Such effects may represent a psychological vulnerability marker associated with the bipolar phenotype. [source] Effects of mood stabilizers on the inhibition of adenylate cyclase via dopamine D2 -like receptorsBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 3 2007Liliana P Montezinho Objective:, The mood stabilizing drugs lithium, carbamazepine and valproate modulate brain adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels, which are assumed to be elevated in bipolar disorder patients. The aim of this work was to investigate how these three mood stabilizing agents affect the regulation of cAMP levels by dopamine D2 -like receptors in vitro in rat cortical neurons in culture and in vivo in the rat prefrontal cortex. Methods:, The production of cAMP was measured in the cultured cortical neurons or in microdialysis samples collected from the prefrontal cortex of freely moving rats using the [8- 3H] and [125I] radioimmunoassay kits. Results:,In vitro and in vivo data showed that the treatment with the mood stabilizing drugs had no effect on basal cAMP levels in vitro, but had differential effects in vivo. Direct stimulation of adenylate cyclase (AC) with forskolin increased cAMP levels both in vitro and in vivo, and this effect was significantly inhibited by all three mood stabilizers. Activation of dopamine D2 -like receptors with quinpirole partially inhibited forskolin-induced increase in cAMP in untreated cultures, but no effect was observed in cortical neuron cultures treated with the mood stabilizing drugs. Similar results were obtained by chronic treatment with lithium and valproate in the prefrontal cortex in vivo. However, surprisingly, in carbamazepine-treated rats the activation of dopamine D2 -like receptors enhanced the responsiveness of AC to subsequent activation by forskolin, possibly as a consequence of chronic inhibition of the activity of the enzyme. Conclusions:, It was shown that each of these drugs affects basal- and forskolin-evoked cAMP levels in a distinct way, resulting in differential responses to dopamine D2 -like receptors activation. [source] Disability and its treatment in bipolar disorder patientsBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 1-2 2007Nancy Huxley Bipolar disorders (BPD) are major, life-long psychiatric illnesses found in 2,5% of the population. Prognosis for BPD was once considered relatively favorable, but contemporary findings suggest that disability and poor outcomes are prevalent, despite major therapeutic advances. Syndromal recovery from acute episodes of mania or bipolar major depression is achieved in as many as 90% of patients given modern treatments, but full symptomatic recovery is achieved slowly, and residual symptoms of fluctuating severity and functional impact are the rule. Depressive,dysthymic,dysphoric morbidity continues in more than 30% of weeks in follow-up from initial episodes as well as later in the illness-course. As few as 1/3 of BPD patients achieve full social and occupational functional recovery to their own premorbid levels. Pharmacotherapy, though the accepted first-line treatment for BPD patients, is insufficient by itself, encouraging development of adjunctive psychological treatments and rehabilitative efforts to further limit morbidity and disability. Interpersonal, cognitive,behavioral, and psychoeducational therapies all show promise for improving symptomatic and functional outcomes. Much less is known about how these and more specific rehabilitative interventions might improve vocational functioning in BPD patients. [source] Differential working memory impairment in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: effects of lifetime history of psychosisBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 2 2006David C Glahn Background:, Although bipolar disorder and schizophrenia have long been viewed as distinct illnesses, there is growing evidence that these two complex diseases share some common genes, which may manifest as overlapping neuropsychological impairments. Although working memory dysfunction has been proposed to be central to the pathophysiology of schizophrenia, it has received less attention in studies of bipolar disorder. Method:, We applied measures of working memory to patients with schizophrenia (n = 15), patients with schizoaffective disorder (n = 15), patients with psychotic (n = 11) and non-psychotic (n = 15) bipolar disorder, and demographically matched healthy subjects (n = 32), in order to determine the extent to which these groups show common or unique impairments. Results:, While patients with bipolar disorder (with and without psychotic features) and those with schizophrenia/schizoaffective disorder were impaired on backward digit span, only patients with a lifetime history of psychotic features, regardless of diagnosis, were impaired on spatial delayed response task. Conclusions:, Backward digit span performance is comparable in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and may be an appropriate endophenotypic marker that cuts across diagnostic categories. In contrast, spatial working memory performance clearly distinguishes non-psychotic bipolar disorder patients from patients with functional psychosis. [source] Substance abuse in bipolar disorderBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 4 2001Frederick Cassidy Background: High rates of substance abuse have been reported in the general population, with males more often affected than females. Although high rates of substance abuse have also been reported in bipolar patients, the relationship between substance abuse and bipolar disorder has not been well characterized. Methods: Substance abuse histories were obtained in 392 patients hospitalized for manic or mixed episodes of bipolar disorder and rates of current and lifetime abuse calculated. Analyses comparing sex, subtype (manic vs. mixed) and clinical history variables were conducted. Results: Rates of lifetime substance abuse were high for both alcohol (48.5%) and drugs (43.9%). Nearly 60% of the cohort had a history of some lifetime substance abuse. Males had higher rates of abuse than females, but no differences in substance abuse were observed between subjects in manic and mixed bipolar states. Rates of active substance abuse were lower in older age cohorts. Subjects with a comorbid diagnosis of lifetime substance abuse had more psychiatric hospitalizations. Conclusions: Substance abuse is a major comorbidity in bipolar patients. Although rates decrease in older age groups, substance abuse is still present at clinically important rates in the elderly. Bipolar patients with comorbid substance abuse may have a more severe course. These data underscore the significance of recognition and treatment of substance abuse in bipolar disorder patients. [source] Neuroimaging in bipolar disorderBIPOLAR DISORDERS, Issue 3 2000Stephen M Strakowski Objective: The authors reviewed neuroimaging studies of bipolar disorder in order to evaluate how this literature contributes to the current understanding of the neurophysiology of the illness. Method: Papers were reviewed as identified, using the NIMH PubMed literature search systems that reported results of neuroimaging studies involving a minimum of five bipolar disorder patients compared with healthy comparison subjects. Results: Structural neuroimaging studies report mixed results for lateral and third ventriculomegaly. Recent studies suggest subcortical structural abnormalities in the striatum and amygdala, as well as the prefrontal cortex. Proton spectroscopic studies suggest that abnormalities in choline metabolism exist in bipolar disorder, particularly in the basal ganglia. Additionally, phosphorous MRS suggests that there may be abnormalities in frontal phospholipid metabolism in bipolar disorder. Functional studies have identified affective state-related changes in cerebral glucose metabolism and blood flow, particularly in the prefrontal cortex during depression, but no clear abnormalities specific to bipolar disorder have been consistently observed. Conclusions: The current literature examining the neurophysiology of bipolar disorder using neuroimaging is limited. Nonetheless, abnormalities in specific frontal-subcortical brain circuits seem likely. Additional targeted studies are needed to capitalize on this burgeoning technology to advance our understanding of the neurophysiology of bipolar disorder. [source] | ||||||||||