Posted on 02/16/2011 6:39:24 PM PST by decimon
Philadelphia, PA, 16 February 2011 - Lithium, introduced in the late 1940's, was the first "wonder drug" in psychiatry. It was the first medication treatment for the manic and depressive episodes of bipolar disorder and it remains among one of the most effective treatments for this disorder.
In the past 15 years, as molecular mechanisms underlying the treatment of bipolar disorder began to emerge, basic research studies conducted in animals began to identify neuroprotective and perhaps neurotrophic effects of this important medication.
The identification of these molecular actions of lithium coincided with the discovery of regional brain volume deficits in imaging studies of people with bipolar disorder. In particular, a generation of research studies identified alterations, predominately reductions, in the size of brain regions involved in mood regulation. These studies also began to provide hints that some of the treatments for bipolar disorder would increase the volumes of these brain regions.
In a massive research effort published in Biological Psychiatry, eleven international research groups collaborated to pool brain imaging data from adults with bipolar disorder. This allowed them to perform a mega-analysis to evaluate the differences in brain structure between individuals with bipolar disorder and healthy comparison subjects.
They found that individuals with bipolar disorder had increased right lateral ventricular, left temporal lobe, and right putamen volumes. Individuals with bipolar disorder who were not taking lithium had a reduction in cerebral and hippocampal volumes compared with healthy comparison subjects. Importantly, however, bipolar patients taking lithium displayed significantly increased hippocampal and amygdala volume compared with patients not treated with lithium and healthy comparison subjects. Cerebral volume reduction was also significantly associated with illness duration in bipolar individuals.
"This important mega-analysis provides strong support for regional brain structural alterations associated with bipolar disorder, but also sends a signal of hope that treatments for this disorder may reduce some of these deficits," commented Dr. John Krystal, Editor of Biological Psychiatry.
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Notes to Editors:
The article is "Structural Magnetic Resonance Imaging in Bipolar Disorder: An International Collaborative Mega-Analysis of Individual Adult Patient Data" by Brian Hallahan, John Newell, Jair C. Soares, Paolo Brambilla, Stephen M. Strakowski, David E. Fleck, Tuula Kieseppä, Lori L. Altshuler, Alex Fornito, Gin S. Malhi, Andrew M. McIntosh, Deborah A. Yurgelun-Todd, Kevin S. Labar, Verinder Sharma, Glenda M. MacQueen, Robin M. Murray, and Colm McDonald. Please see the article for the authors' affiliations and disclosures of financial and conflicts of interest. The article appears in Biological Psychiatry, Volume 69, Number 4 (February 15, 2011), published by Elsevier.
John H. Krystal, M.D. is Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine and a research psychiatrist at the VA Connecticut Healthcare System. His disclosures of financial and conflicts of interests are available at http://journals.elsevierhealth.com/webfiles/images/journals/bps/Biological-Psychiatry-Editorial-Disclosures-7-22-10.pdf.
Full text of the article mentioned above is available upon request. Contact Chris J. Pfister at c.pfister@elsevier.com to obtain a copy or to schedule an interview.
About Biological Psychiatry
This international rapid-publication journal is the official journal of the Society of Biological Psychiatry. It covers a broad range of topics in psychiatric neuroscience and therapeutics. Both basic and clinical contributions are encouraged from all disciplines and research areas relevant to the pathophysiology and treatment of major neuropsychiatric disorders. Full-length reports of novel results, commentaries, case studies of unusual significance, and correspondence judged to be of high impact to the field are published, particularly those addressing genetic and environmental risk factors, neural circuitry and neurochemistry, and important new therapeutic approaches. Concise reviews and editorials that focus on topics of current research and interest are also published rapidly.
Biological Psychiatry (www.sobp.org/journal) is ranked 4th out of 117 Psychiatry titles and 13th out of 230 Neurosciences titles in the 2009 ISI Journal Citations Reports® published by Thomson Reuters. The 2009 Impact Factor score for Biological Psychiatry has increased to 8.926.
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It is a naturally occurring substance in several parts of the country... Having worked periodically on the psych unit at the hospital, those on lithium get weekly lith level blood drawn, because it can be toxic. The blood levels of lith. have a very strict perimeters of use. Lith levels were constantly being adjusted according to blood levels...
Like any power medication, if not monitored can be fatal..the same goes for those people on medical blood thinners (not aspirin)like coumadin.
We call it “bipolar” because manic-depressive isn’t quite accurate. You can have hypomania and depression and be bipolar, but you technically can’t be manic-depressive.
You should also sit down and talk to someone who has been helped by Lithium. It is a crippling, crippling disorder that does not deserve to be taken lightly or made fun of. I sincerely doubt you’ve lived with someone who has bipolar disorder or have it yourself. From what I’ve heard, it’s godawful.
Too often true.
I've taken a low dosage of Xanax .5mg 3-4 times per day for over 16 years now with no problems. I can not take antidepressants it makes it much worse. My wife has taken Xanax 25 years same dosage no problem. She has serious neurological damage {quadriplegia}. Xanax likely saved her life. A doctor also had her on antidepressants and she went into Serotonin Syndrome twice in a weeks time. Xanax is a counter acting drug for it. Had she not been on it at the time the reaction may have been fatal.
I do believe Xanax is safer than SSRI's and other type antidepressants when Xanax is prescribed properly in lower dosages.
Good info for those who it might help! Thx!
How does that make her any different from other women?
The sweet part. ;-)
Thank you! As someone with a son who is BiPolar, I can tell you that public misinformation and misconceptions and stigma make dealing with these devastating illnesses doubly difficult. Am am a teacher for NAMI for a 12-week course to help families understand and better help their ill relative. I am also my State's coordinator for this course, called Family-to-Family (Watch the video). If anyone reading this knows of families with loved ones suffering serious mental illness, please tell them about NAMI and the Family-to-Family program.
I’ve got a college-aged child who is probably bi-polar. Depakote seems to be helping but she needs more help than the college shrink. Anyone care to Freepmail me if you know of a good doc recommend in the Northern Utah area?
Where did you have to go to get the TDCS treatment?
http://brainadvantage.com
The last time I checked 25% of diagnosed bi-polar patients die from suicide. I was married for 25 years to someone with this disorder, and multiple suicide attempts, wild spending and extremely aggressive behavior was not a picnic. Anyone who compares this condition to a neurosis is a fool.
Bipolar is extremely serious. It is destructive not only to the person who has it but to all who have relationships with that person.
As a friend of mine says, there are many different degrees of suicide. Some folks do it all at once by gun or pill, but many do it one cigarette or one drink or one binge at a time. And suicide is never just about the person at the center of it. It destroys big chunks of the lives of all involved.
That link doesn’t seem to work any more.
Any other places you would advise to check for information?
Never mind, your link does seem to work after all.
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