Study finds bipolar patients have increased risk for medical ailments
Posted By atorturedsoul on July 29, 2009
A new study by Thomson Reuters has discovered that patients with bipolar disorder are “three times more likely to experience trauma or adverse reaction to treatment.” Patients with a mental illness have a greater risk for a wide range of medical conditions.
This study analyzed the insurance claims of more than 600,000 unidentified Americans.
View the entire study at http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/bipolarbrief.pdf.
View an interactive chart listing the risk of comorbid disorders at http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/OverviewBipolar.html.
The most significant findings are as follows:
- Trauma or Adverse Reactions to Treatment: Patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder were 3.13 times more likely than the control group to have a trauma or adverse reaction to treatment. Approximately 7 percent of bipolar cases had at least one such episode in the two-year study period.
- Neurological Episodes: Neurological conditions — such as headaches and spinal cord injuries — occurred 2.27 times more frequently among bipolar patients. Approximately one-fourth of all enrollees with a bipolar episode also had at least one episode involving the neurological system.
- Female Reproduction: Conditions involving the female reproductive system — such as dysfunctional uterine bleeding and breast cancer — were 25 percent more common among bipolar patients.
“Medication use and behavioral characteristics are known to increase the risk of disease among bipolar patients, but much is still unknown about the reasons for increased rates of comorbidities among this population and ways to reduce them,” said William D. Marder, Ph.D., senior vice president and general manager for the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters and one of the study’s authors. “Our analysis underscores the urgent need for further exploration of how to best increase providers’ capacity to address, monitor and ultimately improve the psychiatric and physical health of their bipolar patients.”
For more information, visit http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/.
Sources:
http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/
http://research.thomsonhealthcare.com/treemaps/OverviewBipolar.html
Related posts:
- All About Bipolar: Medical ailments linked to mental illness It is well known that scientists have confirmed a link...
- All About Bipolar: Bipolar disorder linked to migraines Studies have shown that people with bipolar disorder, especially bipolar...
- Antiepileptic drugs do not increase risk of suicide Studies show that antiepileptic medications do not increase the risk...
- Light therapy beneficial to patients with bipolar disorder? Is light therapy beneficial to patients with bipolar disorder? Recent...
- Cognitive performance, despair gene, and heart disease in bipolar patients Bipolar medication doesn’t impact cognitive performance, the ‘despair’ gene linked...
Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.
About the author
Study finds bipolar patients have increased risk for medical ailments http://bit.ly/IVzQH
Study finds bipolar patients have increased risk for medical ailments http://bit.ly/IVzQH
Study finds bipolar patients have increased risk for medical ailments http://bit.ly/IVzQH
That is fascinating. I’ll be reading more about this. Thanks for the info.
I thought it was interesting too because I know a lot of people who have health issues as well as bipolar disorder and one condition aggravates the other.
That is so very true. I have fibromyalgia and arthritis as well as the Bipolar and anxiety, and they really aggravate each other. When one gets worse, the others do too. I haven’t had a chance to read those articles yet, but I’m very interested in what they say.
Have a great day!
Jane
[...] Medical ailments linked to mental illness It is well known that scientists have confirmed a link…Study finds bipolar patients have increased risk for medical ailments A new study by Thomson Reuters has discovered that patients…All About Bipolar: Genetic research [...]
you just got yourself a place in my bookmarks