A follow-up study of family burden in patients with bipolar affective disorder

BackgroundA few recent linkage studies have shown a possible locus for bipolar disorder on chromosome 18. Cytogenetic studies may assist in the further localisation of susceptibility loci on this chromosome.MethodA search was made for abnormalities of chromosome 18 in two separate large cytogenetic databases. In Denmark detection of mental illness in subjects with chromosome abnormalities was done by cross-linking the two separate register of psychiatric and chromosome disorders. In Scotland the Cytogenetic Registry of the MRC Human Genetics Unit undertakes long-term clinical follow-up of all cases with chromosome abnormalities.ResultsCross-linking the two Danish register's revealed a family with the rare karyotype abnormality inv(18) (p11.3;q21.1) with one inversion carrier who also suffered from bipolar disorder. In this family there were two other cases of bipolar disorder, but the karyotype of these cases could not be established. One family in Scotland showed a case of schizophrenia in a carrier of inv(18) with the same breakpoints as the Danish family.ConclusionsWe suggest further studies of the 18p11.3 and 18q21.1 regions in order to identify genes involved in bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia.

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Follow-Up Study of Seasonal Affective Disorder in Switzerland

Psychopathology ◽

10.1159/000285049 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 30 (4) ◽

pp. 208-214 ◽

Cited By ~ 16

Author(s):

Peter Graw ◽

Beatrice Gisin ◽

Anna Wirz-Justice

Keyword(s):

Affective Disorder ◽

Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽

Follow Up Study

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Thyrotoxicosis followed by hypothyroidism in a patient on lithium

Mental Illness ◽

10.1108/mi.2014.5415 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 38-39 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nilamadhab Kar ◽

Surabhi R. Hullumane ◽

Carol Williams

Keyword(s):

Maintenance Therapy ◽

Affective Disorder ◽

Female Patient ◽

Thyroid Dysfunction ◽

Bipolar Affective Disorder ◽

Clinical Impact

While hypothyroidism is common in lithium-treated patients, thyrotoxicosis is rarely reported. We present a female patient on lithium for maintenance therapy of bipolar affective disorder, who developed thyrotoxicosis for few months which was followed by hypothyroidism which continued. There was no further thyrotoxicosis episode during a five year follow up period. While she was treated for thyroid dysfunction, lithium was continued. There was no clinical impact on the maintenance of the bipolar affective disorder during the follow up period; she was maintained well in the community.

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A longitudinal follow-up study of seasonal affective disorder

American Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1176/ajp.152.6.862 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 152 (6) ◽

pp. 862-868 ◽

Cited By ~ 41

Keyword(s):

Affective Disorder ◽

Seasonal Affective Disorder ◽

Follow Up Study

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Lithium and recurrence in a long-term follow-up of bipolar affective disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291796004461 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 27 (2) ◽

pp. 281-289 ◽

Cited By ~ 29

Author(s):

W. CORYELL ◽

G. WINOKUR ◽

D. SOLOMON ◽

T. SHEA ◽

A. LEON ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Affective Disorder ◽

Bipolar Affective Disorder ◽

Treatment Decisions ◽

First Year ◽

Drug Status ◽

Prophylactic Effect ◽

Long Term Follow Up ◽

Physiological Differences

Background. Though previous studies have clearly shown that lithium affords prophylaxis in bipolar affective disorder, these studies have not demonstrated the persistence of this prophylactic effect beyond the first year of recovery.Methods. One hundred and eighty-one patients with bipolar affective disorder recovered during 5 years of semi-annual follow-up. After 8 weeks of recovery, 139 were taking lithium prophylaxis and 42 were not. Analyses used drug status (lithium v. no-lithium) as a censoring variable to compare these two groups by interval-specific probabilities of recurrence.Results. Recurrence was initially less likely in the lithium group but interval-specific probabilities of recurrence did not consistently favour either group after the first 32 weeks of recovery.Conclusions. Biases in treatment decisions may have both reduced the size and altered the specificity of the lithium effects seen here. Nevertheless, the apparent transience of lithium prophylactic effects is unexplained and may reflect important, physiological differences between relapse and recurrence. This possibility invites a controlled lithium discontinuation study, with gradual taper, of patients who have had at least 8 months of sustained euthymia.

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A CT scan follow-up study of cerebral ventricular size in schizophrenia and major affective disorder

Schizophrenia Research ◽

10.1016/0920-9964(88)90115-6 ◽

1988 ◽

Vol 1 (2-3) ◽

pp. 165-166 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Keyword(s):

Ct Scan ◽

Affective Disorder ◽

Ventricular Size ◽

Follow Up Study

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Recent findings in bipolar affective disorder

Psychological Medicine ◽

10.1017/s0033291704002855 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 34 (5) ◽

pp. 767-776 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

PAUL BEBBINGTON

Keyword(s):

Bipolar Disorder ◽

Affective Disorder ◽

Psychotic Disorders ◽

Attempted Suicide ◽

Bipolar Affective Disorder ◽

Unipolar Depression ◽

Natural Mortality ◽

Affective Psychosis ◽

Great Excess

Goodwin (2000) famously argued that bipolar disorder was the Cinderella of psychiatry. It certainly should not be: there is no doubt of the anguish caused by the condition, in particular the excess of natural mortality and the great excess of death by suicide (Ösby et al. 2001). In this issue, Mitchell et al. (2004) report that 26% of their cases of bipolar disorder had attempted suicide at some point. This reflects the sheer persistence of personal suffering: Judd and colleagues (2002, 2003) demonstrated in a long and detailed follow-up that patients with bipolar disorder were symptomatic at least half the time. The Australian National Survey of Psychotic Disorders found levels of disability in affective psychosis equal to those of schizophrenia (Jablensky et al. 2000), and bipolar cases are more likely to score highly on measures of disability than unipolar cases (Mitchell et al. 2004). People with bipolar disorder are more likely to be single, widowed or divorced than both the general populace and those with unipolar depression (Mitchell et al. 2004).

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