Bipolar Patients at Risk of Dying Prematurely, New Data Suggest

Individuals with bipolar disorder tend to die, on average, nine years prematurely. This troubling finding emerged from a study conducted by American and Swedish researchers and reported in JAMA Psychiatry. The lead researcher was Casey Crump, M.D., Ph.D., a clinical assistant professor of medicine at Stanford University. However, the researchers also learned that while bipolar subjects' highest odds of dying prematurely were from suicide, their leading causes of premature death were cardiovascular disease and cancer. And when they received timely medical care for such illnesses, they tended to not die any earlier from these illnesses than did the general population.

If Crump could offer psychiatrists one piece of advice regarding these findings, it would be this, he told Psychiatric News: "Regular follow-up with primary, preventive health care is a critical part of managing bipolar disorder and its health consequences."

Other new findings about bipolar disorder can be found in the Psychiatric News articles "Side Effects Limit Drug Options in Bipolar Patients," "Gene Research on Bipolar Disorder Raises New Areas for Study," and "ADHD With Bipolar Disorder May Be Distinct Illness."

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