Obesity and Bipolar Disorder: A Dangerous Liasion?

A new meta-study in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry indicates that the relationship between bipolar disorder and obesity merits particular attention. The authors selected 92 studies that provided information concerning prevalence and correlates of obesity in patients with bipolar disorder. After reviewing these studies, researchers concluded that obesity is in fact prevalent in patients with bipolar disorder, and that comorbid obesity and bipolar disorder correlate with less successful psychiatric results and increased medical morbidity compared to bipolar disorder alone. According to the studies reviewed, factors that correlate with the onset and upkeep of obesity in bipolar disorder are genetic variables, eating behaviors, age, gender, physical inactivity, socioeconomic status, neurotransmitter irregularities, and atypical depression. http://www.psychiatrist.com/abstracts/200606/060607.htm