Children of Bipolar Parents in US More Ill than Those in the Netherlands
New research shows that bipolar disorder risk is higher in the US than in the Netherlands. At the 2015 meeting of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, researchers Manon Hillegers and Esther Mesman described a study in which they compared the offspring of mothers with bipolar disorder in the US to those in the Netherlands. The offspring ranged in age from 10–18.
In the US, the mothers had, on average, an earlier age of onset, more substance abuse comorbidity, and were more likely to have been diagnosed with bipolar II disorder. Among the US offspring, 66% had been diagnosed with a psychiatric illness compared to 44% of the Dutch offspring. This included significantly higher rates of anxiety, ADHD, and disruptive behavior disorders in the US offspring. Among the offspring who had been diagnosed with a mood disorder, 80% of those in the US had other additional psychiatric disorders, but only 34% of the Dutch did. Bipolar disorder is more rare among children under the age of 12 in the Netherlands compared to the US.
Dutch children and adolescents were typically treated with lithium and with only one drug at a time. In the US, lithium is less widely used, and simultaneous treatment with several medications (usually including atypical antipsychotics) is common.
Editor’s Note: The research by Hillegers and Mesman replicates research by this editor (Robert M. Post) and colleagues that compared bipolar disorder incidence and severity in the US, Germany, and the Netherlands. Other comparisons have been made between the US and Europe. A 2014 article by Frank Bellivier and colleagues in the World Journal of Biological Psychiatry also showed that bipolar disorder onset occurs earlier in the US than in 10 different European countries, while Bruno Etain and colleagues found that bipolar disorder onset occurs earlier in the US than in France in a 2012 article in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Together this research shows that bipolar disorder is more serious in the US than in a number of European countries. Two-thirds of adults with bipolar disorder report that their illness began in childhood or adolescence. Most of these cases are not properly diagnosed or treated. A concerted effort must be made by the medical establishment and healthcare policymakers in the US to provide better and earlier treatment of bipolar illness.
Obesity Linked to Illness Severity
In a talk at the 2015 meeting of the International Society for Bipolar Disorder, researcher David Bond reported that 75% of patients in a study of first episode mania had unhealthy body mass indices (BMIs). Forty percent were overweight while thirty-five percent were obese. Higher weight was associated with greater illness severity. Bond said that in other studies obesity has been associated with less time well and a greater risk of relapse into depression.
Obese patients also had lower brain volume, worse memory, and a greater risk of developing early onset dementia compared to other patients. Those who were overweight or obese had a 35% higher risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.
In a different talk at the same meeting, researcher Roger McIntyre reported that among patients with bipolar disorder, those who were obese have greater cognitive problems and more evidence of inflammation than those who were not obese. He has seen indirect antidepressant effects and other health benefits following weight loss from bariatric surgery.