cycle bipolar
Is your brain shrinkage? According to scientists, all of our brains are falling! Research in the United Kingdom shows that all the world loses brain tissue over time, thus reducing the size of the brain. However, recently published studies from the University of Edinburgh show that those with bipolar disorder experience an accelerated loss of brain tissue.
What is bipolar disorder, for those who are unaware of the condition? The bipolar affective disorder is a disease and a mental health condition in which patients cycle between periods of depression and mania. During episodes of depression, symptoms include negative feelings such as sadness, hopelessness, anxiety and guilt, as well as abnormal sleep habits and patterns supply, loss of interest in activities and hobbies, and experience chronic pain without apparent physical cause. During manic episodes, the Symptoms include feelings of euphoria, excessive optimism and self-esteem, aggression, lack of discretion and risk taking, impulsive spending, increased physical activity and sexual desire, decreased need for sleep, difficulty concentrating, thoughts and rapid speech.
These episodes can be mild or severe and may cycle over weeks or months. Severe episodes can cause psychosis, which causes symptoms such as hallucinations and delusions of grandeur. There are two types of bipolar disorder, Bipolar I Disorder, which includes at least one manic episode, with or without an episode of depression and bipolar II disorder, which involves at least one episode of mild mania (known as hypomania) and at least one episode of depression.
Researchers at the University of Edinburgh, made two magnetic resonance imaging or MRI, brain scans of 20 patients with bipolar disorder and 20 people without bipolar disorder, with a period of four years between initial exploration and monitoring exploration. The results showed that all participants lost a small amount of brain tissue in time, but that patients with bipolar disorder lost greater amount of gray matter. Gray matter is the part of the brain that processes nerve signals, which supports the evidence that the average age of patients undergoing operation cognitive impaired.
The finding suggests that bipolar disorder may actually be a brain disease rather than simply a mental health condition. This study it unclear whether the disorder is causing the loss of tissue, or the accelerated loss of tissue is the cause of the disorder. More research will be conducted before to determine the cause and effect, but this study demonstrates the importance of maintaining remission in patients with bipolar disorder to minimize the acceleration of tissue loss.
Jack Chanceling is a contributor to the Bipolar Feed [http://thebipolarfeed.wordpress.com].
Rapid Cycling Bipolar
