Senior Citizens with Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder is defined as a disease thought to be caused by changes in the chemistry of the brain causing an imbalance.  This imbalance of chemicals can cause a person to experience extreme mood changes that can take on three different forms; mania, depression and/or a mix of both.  The symptoms and severity of the disorder varies with each affected person.

Bipolar Disorder tends to run in families.  It has been reported that on average it takes approximately ten years to properly diagnosis Bipolar Disorder.  It is often initially diagnosed as a different condition.  Reported reasons for this are because the patient seeks treatment while suffering from depression and neglects to tell their healthcare provider of the mania or manic symptoms. Treatment for Bipolar Disorder usually includes medication and therapy; individual or group.  The most popular medication prescribed for Bipolar Disorder being Lithium; a mood stabilizer with an anti-depressant effect.  Healthcare professionals admit that with regards to senior citizens that have Bipolar Disorder there are only a few published guidelines for treatment and this presents challenges for the medical professional.  The estimated figure of seniors developing Bipolar Disorder after the age of 50 is 10 percent of the senior citizen population.    Healthcare professionals state that senior citizens that develop Bipolar Disorder have unique issues because they may have a new-onset form of the illness.  Lithium remains the prescription of choice to treat Bipolar Disorder in senior citizens, although the dosage is reduced by one-third to one-half from that of younger people.  There remains controversy in the medical field on the use of Lithium with the elderly because of other health issues that the patient may have, and possible toxicity levels.