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Is Bipolar Genetic Or Developed

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Genetics And Bipolar Medications

Bipolar Disorder, Genetics, and the Brain (12 of 15)

A separate issue that has been noted with our newer understanding of genetics is that genetics may play a role in how a person responds to medications for bipolar disorder. For example, those with two inactive copies of the CYP206 gene may be poor metabolizers of drugs such as risperidone and aripiprazole. As noted above, how much a person responds to drugs such as lithium may run in the family.

Chemical Imbalance In The Brain

Bipolar disorder is widely believed to be the result of chemical imbalances in the brain.

The chemicals responsible for controlling the brain’s functions are called neurotransmitters, and include;noradrenaline, serotonin and dopamine.

There’s some evidence that if there’s an imbalance in the levels of 1 or more neurotransmitters, a person may develop some;symptoms of bipolar disorder.

For example, there’s evidence that episodes of mania may occur when levels of noradrenaline are too high, and episodes of depression may be the result of noradrenaline levels becoming too low.

Rise In Bp Diagnoses Sparks Continued Controversy

Those worries have been aggravated by a dramatic increase in the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in children and the resulting attention in the mainstream media. An issue once discussed primarily in medical journals is now a frequent topic on everything from the evening news to The Oprah Winfrey Show.

But how can parents sort through the often-conflicting reports?

Doctors at New Yorks Stony Brook University recently analyzed data from patients discharged from U.S. psychiatric hospitals from 1996 to 2004. They found that while the number of adults with a bipolar diagnosis rose slightly, the number of children discharged with that diagnosis increased from one in 10 in 1996 to four in 10 by 2004.

The exact reason behind those numbers is unclear. Some mental health experts point to the 1994 update of the Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders . That year, psychiatrys official manual widened the definition of bipolar disorder.

Mental health advocates cite improved diagnosis and awareness of the illness. Still others believe publicity generated by the pharmaceutical industry may be driving the increase.

The controversy is over how narrowly or broadly to define childhood bipolar disorder, said Joan Luby, MD, an associate professor of child psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

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Structural Variants: Another Source Of Genetic Risk Factors For Bpd

Cytogenetic changes, large-scale chromosomal abnormalities including translocations, duplications and deletions, have identified a number of risk loci for serious psychiatric disorder. A balanced chromosomal translocation which segregated in a Scottish family with schizophrenia and mood disorders led to the identification of DISC1 as a susceptibility gene for major mental illness . Subsequent association studies have implicated a variety of markers on the DISC1 gene with schizophrenia and BPD . Other translocations segregating with bipolar or psychotic illness have implicated additional genes including GRIK4 and NPAS3 .

Deletions or duplications of a small part of a chromosome ), may also play an important role in the aetiology of psychiatric disorder. These copy number variants include the well-known 1.5â3 Mb deletion on 22q11 that produces velo-cardio-facial syndrome , one expression of which is a 25â30-fold increased risk for psychotic disorders .

Why Is Bipolar Disorder So Common In The Population

Care For Someone With Bipolar Disorder

The question of why and how severe and debilitating disorders, such as bipolar disorder, could have persisted in the population at a relatively high rate of about 24% is among the leading questions of evolutionary epidemiology . According to Darwinian Theory, common, positively selected traits provided an evolutionary advantage, but in the case of some traits, left almost all members of a population vulnerable to the disease . Supporting evidence has come from comparisons of the human genome to the genome of the chimpanzee, which revealed evidence for positive selection in the opioid receptor genes and immune response genes . These studies provided support for a link between entire genes or even gene families and common human traits, such as creativity and novelty seeking, which might have not only provided an evolutionary advantage but also made all humankind susceptible to addiction and other psychiatric disorders .

Figure 1. Evolution-based hypothesis about traits and diseases.

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Are You Born With Bipolar Disorder

Babies arent born with symptoms of bipolar disorder. But someone with a genetic risk is born carrying the genes that may increase their chances of developing the condition later in life.

However, many other factors besides heredity and genes play a role in whether these genes will be triggered, causing the disorder to develop.

Its rare for symptoms of bipolar disorder to begin in childhood. For most people with bipolar disorder, symptoms start to appear in late adolescence or early adulthood.

Things You Dont Know About Bipolar Disorder

The average persons knowledge of bipolar disorder often comes from movies, where patients are typically depicted in one of three ways:

1) Uber-creative and energeticthink Bradley Cooper in Silver Linings Playbook.

2) Brilliant but paranoidMatt Damons character in The Informant.

3) Charmingly ineptas played by Mark Ruffalo in Infinitely Polar Bear.

Despite the protagonists mental health challenges, finding true love and a caring therapist usually leads to a cure at least in Hollywood.

In real life, bipolar disorder is a condition that has to be managed. About 2% of the populationor approximately 8.5 million Americanslive with bipolar disorder, the mental health condition once known as manic depression.

Its one of the most misunderstood and complex mental illnesses, and its among the 10 most debilitating noncommunicable diseases, according to the World Health Organization.

People living with bipolar disorder often have chaotic lives. They experience episodes of extreme elation and severe depression, cycling through moods and emotions that make it difficult to complete simple tasks or maintain lasting relationships.

Today, emerging research on the root causes of bipolar disorder have proven its an affliction, not a choice. Risk for bipolar may be carried by genes across generations, making some people susceptible and leaving others unaffected. Studies have found that genetic influence explains 60% to 85% of risk for the disorder.

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New Blood Test Developed For Depression And Bipolar Disorder

Current methods for diagnosing and treating depression remain largely trial and error with no objective measures or blood tests available. But a team led by Alexander Niculescu, M.D., Ph.D., professor of psychiatry at Indiana University, is hoping to bring personalized medicine approach to the condition and other mood disorders. They have developed a blood-based biomarker test based on RNA biomarkers aimed at detecting the severity of depression, a persons risk of developing severe depression in the future, and the risk of future bipolar disorder.

In a study published in Molecular Psychiatry, the authors believe the test may ultimately lead to tailored medication choices for patients with depressionan area of significant need where most patients routinely cycle through a variety of treatments to find one with some efficacy. Niculescus lab has previously developed blood gene expression biomarkers that track for suicidality, pain, stress disorders, and for memory/Alzheimers Disease

In this four-year study involving over 300 patients with major psychiatric disorders ), high risk populations prone to mood disorders, which constitute and enriched pool in which to look for biomarkers. Participants were followed over time, including periods of high and low mood, each time recording changes in blood biomarkers found through whole-genome gene expression and comparing them between the two states.

Is Bipolar Disorder Genetic

Can you inherit bipolar disorder or depression?

Many studies of bipolar patients and their relatives have shown that bipolar disorder sometimes runs in families. Perhaps the most convincing data come from twin studies. In studies of identical twins, scientists report that if one identical twin has bipolar disorder, the other twin has a greater chance of developing bipolar disorder than another sibling in the family. Researchers conclude that the lifetime chance of an identical twin to also develop bipolar disorder is about 40% to 70%.

In more studies at Johns Hopkins University, researchers interviewed all first-degree relatives of patients with bipolar I and bipolar II disorder and concluded that bipolar II disorder was the most common affective disorder in both family sets. The researchers found that 40% of the 47 first-degree relatives of the bipolar II patients also had bipolar II disorder; 22% of the 219 first-degree relatives of the bipolar I patients had bipolar II disorder. However, among patients with bipolar II, researchers found only one relative with bipolar I disorder. They concluded that bipolar II is the most prevalent diagnosis of relatives in both bipolar I and bipolar II families.

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People With Bipolar Disorder Can Lead Happy Productive Lives

Bipolar disorder symptoms can interfere with normal life and close relationships. Luckily, there are many factors that promote recovery, including a healthy diet, plenty of exercise, quality sleep, and avoiding alcohol and drugs.

One study cited the importance of a qualified, caring healthcare professional who sees you as a whole person. This can be difficult to achieve, as mental health providers are in short supply.

In a study in the Netherlands, patients who were being treated for bipolar disorder also stressed the importance of open communication with others, individualized care, and the opportunity to have a mental health institution to go to in case of crisis.

But during bouts of mania, bipolar patients may lack self-awareness and not recognize that they are illa symptom called anosognosia. For them, having caregivers as advocates can mean the difference between untreated symptoms and hope of relief and even recovery.

As you can see, bipolar disorders and their treatment arent as simple as the movies make them seem. But make no mistake: There is helpand hope.

After Searching 12 Years For Bipolar Disorders Cause A Team Concludes It Has Many

A long-term study in more than 1,100 people yields a new seven-factor framework that could help patients, clinicians and researchers.

Nearly 6 million Americans have bipolar disorder, and most have probably wondered why. After more than a decade of studying over 1,100 of them in-depth, a University of Michigan team has an answer or rather, seven answers.

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In fact, the team says, no one genetic change, chemical imbalance or life event lies at the heart of every case of the mental health condition once known as manic depression.

Rather, every patients experience with bipolar disorder varies from that of others with the condition. But all of their experiences include features that fall into seven classes of phenotypes, or characteristics that can be observed, the team reports in a new paper in the International Journal of Epidemiology.

The team, from U-Ms Heinz C. Prechter Bipolar Research Program, collected and analyzed tens of thousands of data points over years about the genetics, emotions, life experiences, medical histories, motivations, diets, temperaments and sleep and thought patterns of research volunteers. More than 730 had bipolar disorder, and 277 didnt. Three-quarters were active research participants in the Longitudinal Study of Bipolar Disorder.

The Prechter program is named for a Detroit automotive pioneer who fought bipolar disorder even as he built a successful business.

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Symptoms Of Mania And Hypomania

During manic episodes, which can cause extreme highs in mood, people may experience:

  • a lower need for sleep
  • a desire to engage in reckless behaviors such as using drugs or consuming alcohol
  • anger
  • difficulty concentrating or making decisions
  • irritability
  • high energy levels and restlessness
  • high self-esteem

How Do These Causal Factors Affect One Another

Bipolar Disorder

In most cases, one of these circumstances alone is not sufficient to cause bipolar disorder. That means that often at least two causal factors are present.

For example, a person may be genetically pre-disposed to have bipolar disorder, but if they grew up in a stable home where they learned healthy coping strategies for stress, it is less likely for a case of bipolar disorder will develop. The risk is even lower if they do not suffer from biological factors that may trigger the disorder.

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At What Age Do Symptoms Of Bipolar Disorder Usually Show Up

Many people who develop bipolar disorder first have symptoms in their early twenties, though research has shown that there are two big peak periods in adolescence, between the ages of 15 and 24, and again in middle age between 45 and 54. Because it can take a long time to correctly be diagnosed with bipolar disorder, accurate information about the age of onset is still sorely lacking, however.;

Infectious Agents In Schizophrenia And Bipolar Disorder

E. Fuller Torrey, MDPsychiatric Times

The idea that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder might be caused by infection is not new. New research on infectious agents in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder has implications for psychiatric clinicians.

The idea that schizophrenia and bipolar disorder might be caused by infection is not new. This was a prominent hypothesis in the early years of the last century. For example, an article entitled, Is insanity due to a microbe? was published in Scientific American as early as 1896. Research to test this hypothesis by identifying causative viruses was already being conducted by the 1930s, when data were reported from experiments in which cerebrospinal fluid from patients with schizophrenia was injected into rabbit brains.1

New research in the field continues, aided increasingly by impressive technologic advances in microbiology and virology. As recently as the past decade, reports documented the presence of influenza virus, rubella virus, bovine disease virus, and other infectious agents in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, as well as the presence of other infectious agents in childhood pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorder associated with streptococcal infections and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Background and rationale

Current research

Toxoplasma gondii

Herpes simplex viruses

Cytomegalovirus

Endogenous retroviruses

Implications for clinicians

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How Genetics Impact The Development Of Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorders like bipolar I disorder and bipolar II disorder are complex and chronic. With the right management strategy which will include ongoing medication, talk therapy, and positive lifestyle steps bipolar disorder doesn’t have to dominate someone life, and it’s possible to thrive.

In the absence of proper treatment, however, people with a bipolar disorder will be taken on wild and painful rides they have no control over.

At the “top of the rollercoaster”, there’s mania; a fast and scary kind of euphoria that often makes people lose touch with reality, causing them to engage in risky behaviors.

At the bottom, there’s grueling depression. People in the grip of either of these two;”mood episodes” are often unable to recognize the impact mania and depression have on their lives, and they may not ask for the help they’d need to stabilize their moods.;

Is Bipolar Disorder Genetically Or Environmentally Developed

Causes of Bipolar Disease

The idea of learning about the nature of human health and diseases brought light to the fascinating and mysterious ailment that is bipolar disorder. It has often been thought that bipolar disorder has an unclear origin and is developed through a combination of both genetic predisposition and environmental exposure. However, there are a multitude of proposed genetic contributors. For example, there is mixed research regarding whether the paternal or maternal lineage is more genetically responsible for the inheritance or if it leans more into an environmental factor that triggers the disorder. The main reason that this disorder is so mysterious is that there are multiple theories of how the individual inherits the mutated gene which causes the drastic mood swings of great mania followed by extreme depression. Unfortunately, bipolar disorder can only be treated and not cured. Today, various treatments can aid the individual, but due to the disorder being a lifelong struggle, there is no cure.

The toughest complication of all is when it comes to treating bipolar disease. The most common mistake a lot of doctors and patients make is they misdiagnose because this mental illness cannot be scientifically proven, there is no way to test whether a person has it or not neurologically. It is almost always mistaken for depression or temporary abnormal hormone changes. Even though hormones are genetically created, they are environmentally modified.

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The Common Diseasecommon Variant Hypothesis

KEY CONCEPT 5. Common complex disorders.

Some common medical conditions, such as diabetes or high-blood pressure, are believed to be caused by genetic and environmental factors. Therefore, the transmission in families might not follow a simple Mendelian mode of transmission. According to this model, an individual might not manifest the disease, even though he or she carries a risk mutation, if the environmental exposure has not occurred.

Will Mental Illness Run In My Family

If someone in your family has a mental illness, you might be worried about developing the same condition.

If you have a mental illness you might be worried that your children or siblings will develop the same or a different mental illness.

Most people with a mental illness do not have relatives with the same illness. But research does suggest that mental illness can run in families.

The table below shows the chances of schizophrenia or bipolar disorder being passed down through family members. These numbers are based on recent studies. But different studies can show different numbers.

;
If a second degree relative has the condition. For example, your aunt, uncle or grandparent. 3 in 100 5 in 100

It might be helpful to look at the figures in the table in a different way. For example, the chance of someone developing bipolar disorder is 1 out of 100. This means that 99 people are not going to develop bipolar disorder.

If one of your parents has bipolar disorder, the chance of you not developing the condition is 90 out of 100. This means you are less likely to develop bipolar disorder, even if one of your parents has the condition.

Other research shows that different mental health conditions, such as schizoaffective disorder major depression, and anxiety can run in the same family. However, there is less evidence to show if other mental health conditions run in families.

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