Bipolar disorder and the metabolic syndrome: causal factors, psychiatric outcomes and economic burden.

Overweight and obesity are highly prevalent in patients with bipolar disorder, and metabolic disorders also affect a significant portion of this population. Obesity and metabolic disorders cause significant economic burden and impair quality of life in both the general population and patients with bipolar disorder. This review examines the relationship between bipolar disorder and the metabolic syndrome, and the associated economic impact. The metabolic syndrome and bipolar disorder appear to share common risk factors, including endocrine disturbances, dysregulation of the sympathetic nervous system, and behaviour patterns, such as physical inactivity and overeating. In addition, many of the commonly used pharmacological treatments for bipolar disorder may intensify the medical burden in bipolar patients by causing weight gain and metabolic disturbances, including alterations in lipid and glucose metabolism, which can result in an increased risk for diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidaemia, cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome. These medical co-morbidities and obesity have been associated with a worse disease course and likely contribute to the premature mortality observed in bipolar patients. Weight gain is also a major cause of treatment noncompliance, increased use of outpatient and inpatient services and, consequently, higher healthcare costs. Prevention of weight gain and metabolic disturbances or early intervention when these are present in bipolar disorder could result in significant health and economic benefits.

Medical burden in late-life bipolar and major depressive disorders.

BACKGROUND: Elderly patients with bipolar disorder have been found to have higher mortality than those with major depressive disorder. The authors compare medical burden in elderly patients with bipolar disorder with that in those with major depressive disorder. METHODS: Fifty-four patients with bipolar I or II disorder who were 60 years of age and older were equated 1-to-2 to 108 patients with nonpsychotic, major depressive disorder according to age, sex, race, and lifetime duration of mood disorder illness. Variables examined included the following: Cumulative Illness Rating Scale for Geriatrics (CIRS-G) total scores, body mass index (BMI), and CIRS-G subscale scores. RESULTS: Compared with patients with major depressive disorder, patients with bipolar disorder had similar levels of general medical comorbidity on the CIRS-G total score and number of systems affected but higher BMI. After controlling for multiple comparisons, the endocrine/metabolic and respiratory subscale scores on the CIRS-G were higher for patients with bipolar disorder. CONCLUSION: Although overall medical burden appears comparable in elderly patients with bipolar and those with major depressive disorder, patients with bipolar disorder have higher BMI and greater burden of endocrine/metabolic and respiratory disease.

Relationship of general medical burden, duration of illness and age in patients with bipolar I disorder.

OBJECTIVE: This study was aimed at evaluating general medical burden in a group of 111 patients with bipolar I disorder. METHODS: Data were drawn from participants entering the Bipolar Disorder Center for Pennsylvanians (BDCP) protocol. General medical burden was assessed by completing the Cumulative Illness Rating Score (CIRS) from chart review. RESULTS: The mean age of the sample was 42.1 (11.5), mean CIRS total score was 4.7 (2.9), and mean number of categories endorsed was 3.4 (1.7). Medical burden showed a positive relationship with increasing age and with duration of illness. CIRS scores and number of organ/system categories endorsed were significantly higher in patients with more than 21 years of illness than in patients with 0-9 years of illness (p<.0001) or with 10-20 years of illness (p<.0001). Medical burden was related to duration of illness even after controlling for age. The most frequently endorsed illness categories were cardiovascular disease, (with hypertension and hyperlipidemia being the most frequent conditions) and endocrine/metabolic (with obesity, thyroid dysfunction, and type 2 diabetes being the most common conditions). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with bipolar disorder carry a substantial burden of general medical conditions, related to age and duration of illness. These results suggest that the development and testing of specific interventions that target medical risk factors and medical burden in patients with bipolar disorder are urgently needed, especially early in the course of the illness, when patients appear to accumulate medical comorbidity at a rapid rate.

Measured and expected resting energy expenditure in patients with bipolar disorder on maintenance treatment.

OBJECTIVES: Patients with bipolar disorder (BD) on long-term maintenance treatment represent a clinical population with peculiar characteristics, for which available equations to estimate resting energy expenditure (REE) are not suitable. The aim of this study was to measure REE by means of indirect calorimetry in bipolar patients on maintenance treatment and in controls, and to estimate the agreement between measured and predicted REE in both groups. METHODS: Patients diagnosed with BD I and healthy controls were assessed for height, weight and body mass index (BMI). Predicted REE was calculated using Harris-Benedict, Schofield, Recommended Nutrients Assumption Levels (LARN), and OUR equations; measurements of REE were performed using a portable indirect calorimeter. RESULTS: Results for our sample show the most commonly used formulas give a systematic overestimation of REE with respect to measured basal metabolic rate in the patient group. The mean bias was considerably greater for bipolar subjects than for controls. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that patients with severe mental illness on long-term psychopharmacologic treatment may have reduced basal energy expenditure that may be a cause of weight gain.