Bipolar disorders affect between 0.4% and 1.6% of the adult population in France, i.e. around 600,000 people. This pathology, which generally includes a depressive phase and a so-called “manic” phase, is unfortunately misdiagnosed in France: it takes on average 10 to 12 years and 4 to 5 different doctors before it is officially recognized. Experts even estimate that 40% of depressives are actually bipolar who ignore themselves.
According to a new study conducted by King’s College London (in Great Britain), non-sick people who have, in their family, an individual affected by bipolar disorders, would undergo accelerated cellular aging.
To reach this conclusion, the British scientists worked with a panel of 217 volunteers: 63 people with bipolarity, 74 people with a close family member (in the first degree) affected by bipolar disorder and 80 “control” individuals. not affected by the disease.
Lithium treatment has an influence on life expectancy
First discovery: bipolar people receiving lithium-based treatment had longer telomeres than bipolar people not treated with this metal frequently used to fight against nervous disorders. Telomeres are the “caps” at the end of the chromosomes: according to some studies, the longer these are, the higher the life expectancy. Hence the conclusion of the researchers: lithium treatment is beneficial to people suffering from bipolarity.
Second discovery: on the contrary, people who have a person suffering from bipolarity in their close family would present telomeres that are significantly shorter than average, which corresponds to premature cellular aging.
“Environmental and genetic factors can influence the life expectancy of healthy subjects” conclude the researchers, who published their work in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.
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