Bipolar disorder, often associated with characters such as Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, is a very real and serious disorder. Because it is a mood disorder, it can be dismissed by some as “mood swings” or someone being temperamental while in reality, bipolar disorder has biomedical groundings and can be diagnosed quantitatively using biomarkers. Like so many of the diseases or disorders previously mentioned on this blog, bipolar disorder can be caused by inflammation or oxidative stress in the brain. This shared etiology really shows not only how fragile the human brain is, but how diverse its functions are and what can go wrong when those functions are disturbed.
If inflammation and oxidative stress are what bipolar disorder shares with some of the other neurological diseases discussed on this blog then neurodegeneration is where bipolar disorder differs. With other diseases, like Parkinson’s or ALS, show massive neuronal cell death, bipolar disorder doesn’t really follow that path. You might see more glial cell death instead of actual neuron death, which could be what makes bipolar disorder not life-threatening like the Parkinson’s or ALS. Despite this distinction, bipolar disorder is still a serious and debilitating disease and the advances in diagnosis and treatment of this disorder are welcome by the many people it affects.
Bipolar Disorder, more than just Mood Swings
