Bipolar Disorder and the Essay example -- Biology Essays Research Pape

bipolar Disorder and the War on medicatesbipolar affection, also known as, manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that results in unusual shifts in a persons mood, energy, and ability to function. More than two one thousand million Ameri squirt adults (or, about one per cent of the population aged 18 and older in any given year) are afflicted by this affective disorder (1). Yet, because it cannot be revealed by a blood t each(prenominal)y or other physiological means, patients may suffer for years in the lead it is properly diagnosed and treated. Fortunately, once one is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the acute symptoms of the disease can be emergenceively mitigated by atomic number 3 and certain antiepileptic drug drugs, the most popular being Depakote (also known as valproate). However, not all drugs are created equal. The New York Times recently featured an article elucidating that Lithium, the start-off drug utilized to treat bi-polar disorder, is more conducive to preventing self-annihilation in people who have manic-depressive illness than Depakote, what has become the most unremarkably prescribed drug (2).. The new study, published in The journal of the American Medical Association, found that patients taking Depakote were 2.7 times as likely to pull down themselves as those taking lithium (2).. Although studies conducted prior to this have concluded that lithium could in fact prevent suicide, this report is the first to compare suicide and attempted suicide rates in lithium and Depakote users (2). Approximately lambert years ago, lithium opened the modern era of psychopharmacology (3). Its therapeutic effect is indeed very rapid. Administered in the form of lithium carbonate, it is most unassailable in treating the manic phase of a bipolar affective disorder once the mania... ...ring of patients and critical treatment experimentation and evaluation may armed service physicians soon find peace. Sources Cited 1. National Institute of Mental Health bipolar Disorderhttp//%20www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/bipolar.cfm 2. New York Times, 9/17/03 An Older Bipolar Drug Is Linked to Fewer Suicides in a Study (Denise Grady) 3. The British Journal of Psychiatry, 2001. Long-term Clinical Effectiveness of Lithium Maintenance Treatment in Types I and II Bipolar Disorders (Leonardo Tondo, MD)http//bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/full/178/41/s184%20 4. Physiology of Behavior (textbook, 7th edition, Neil R. Carlson) 5. American Psychiatric Association. Practice Guidelines for the Treatment of Patients With Bipolar Disorder Part B Background Information and Review of procurable Evidence http//www.psych.org/clin_res/bipolar_revisebook_5.cfm