Telomere
Length and Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar
disorder is a type of mood disorder where a person alternates from having manic
episodes to major depressive episodes. There are two types: bipolar I and
bipolar II. The first type is more severe since the individual suffers from a full
manic episode. The second type is less detrimental because the person suffers
from a major depressive episode to a hypomanic episode. A hypomanic episode is
when the person doesn’t suffer from social or occupational impairment compared
to a full manic episode. Around 10-25% of people who have bipolar II will
eventually develop bipolar I. Suicide is also the most common consequence by
almost always occurring during the individual’s depressive episodes and rates are
4 times higher than people who have major depressive disorder.
For
many mood disorders, the interactions of biological, psychological and social
factors may contribute to their causes. In this study, scientists found a
connection of a person’s susceptibility for bipolar disorder by looking at
their telomere length due to its heritability. Telomeres are found at the ends
of chromosomes to help protect the DNA from degradation, fusion and unnecessary
recombination. It shortens when DNA is replicated until apoptosis of the cell
occurs. They took DNA from their patients’ cheeks and used PCRs to determine
their lengths. They had 217 male and female participants of white British
ancestry in which 63 were diagnosed with bipolar disorder, 74 were first-degree
relatives and the last 80 were unrelated healthy individuals. It was concluded that people who had
bipolar disorder and their relatives, even if they were psychiatrically
healthy, were found to have shorter telomeres compared to the unrelated
volunteers. Other factors like stress from the environment and lifestyle
choices were also considered that may have affected the telomeres length but
this supports the familial risk of bipolar disorders.
I
believe that this is an important aspect for our society since there’s this
stigma that when a person has some type of psychological disorder it just means
that they have a chemical imbalance. I chose this because I used to be one of
those people who truly didn’t understand the complexity of psychological
disorders and it was interesting to connect what we've learned in class. There are so many different social, cultural, biological and environmental
factors that all add up that may affect that individual. This is also why it’s
never just black and white whenever a person needs to get treated; it may be a
combination of medicine or some type of therapy or both.
-Jieneve G.
References
Powell, T. R., Dima, D., Frangou,
S., & Breen, G. (2018). Telomere Length and Bipolar Disorder. Neuropsychopharmacology, 43,
445-453. doi:10.1038/npp.2017.125
In Elizabeth Blackburn's TEDtalk, "The science of cells that never get old", she shared her research of discovering the enzyme telomerase, that kept telomeres from shortening too much. She then shared how years after her study was published, a psychologist, Elissa Epel, came to Elizabeth in her lab and asked: "What happens to telomeres in people who are chronically stressed?" so together they developed a study to answer the question: "What's the length of their telomeres compared with the number of years that they have been caregiving for their child with a chronic condition?"
ReplyDeleteI have friends and extended family members who live with bipolar and it has been very hard on them personally and their family members. This makes me want to ask if the telomeres of the people with bipolar depression and the telomeres of their 1st generation family members are shorter because of the tendency to develop bipolar depression, or are their telomeres shorter because bipolar depression is a chronic and very stressful condition and affects the length of the telomeres of family members in much the same way as the the mothers of children with chronic conditions had shorter telomeres? Especially when you consider the aspect of the study Blackburn and Epel conducted where they discovered that how a mother perceived the stress of her child's condition also determined whether her telomeres were shorter than the control group. Could it be that people with bipolar depression have shorter telomeres because of how they perceive their life and situation when they are in a depressive episode?
Catherine,
DeleteMy husband's mom and sister both have bipolar disorder, depression, and severe anxiety, and it has caused them and their family much stress and pain. One of the major pieces of Elizabeth Blackburn's speech that touched me was how the aging process speeds up when someone experiences large amounts of stress. This sped up aging process can be seen physically as well as emotionally in different individuals. In 2017, Tim Newman discussed the specific impact bipolar disorder has on telomere length in the "Medical News Today." He said, "Our study provides the first evidence that familial risk for bipolar disorder is associated with shorter telomeres, which may explain why bipolar disorder patients are also at a greater risk for aging-related diseases." I believe this evidence answers your question regarding whether or not telomere length is affected from bipolar disorder and depression.
SL
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ReplyDeleteAfter watching the Ted Talk that discussed Telomere length, I have wondered what else could cause them to shorten. This article/post caught my eye because although he has never been professionally diagnosed, I think my brother has Bipolar disorder and subsequently going off the article, shorter telomeres because of it. My brother is a heavy drug user and my questions is if his drug abuse could be the cause of his bipolar disorder and if his drug use has caused his telomeres to shorten?
ReplyDeleteBB
Bryan,
DeleteAccording to a study done in 2013 in China, drug abuse causes telomeres to be significantly shorter than telomeres in non-drug abusers. Dr. Yang and his team discovered that drugs that were injected shortened telomeres the most, while inhaled drugs shortened telomeres the least. This effect is likely why many people who abuse drugs develop mental disorders and end up homeless. It is a vicious cycle to break because once the damage is done to the telomeres, there is no known cure to restore what was lost. DK
Yang, Z., Ye, J., Zhou, D., Shen, Q., Wu, J., Cao, L., Wang, T., (2013). Drug addiction is associated with leukocyte telomere length. NCBI, vol 3:1542.
Thank you for sharing this! I have many family members that suffer from bipolar and other mental health problems. I say thank you for sharing because this article that you shared and summarized help me to understand just a glimpse of the scientific nature of why this is happening to many of our loved ones. That is why I chose to comment on this article, because of the very personal connection it has to me, and so many. Its amazing how the length of something that is already so small like a Telomere that is just at the tip of the chromosome, can have such a huge affect on ones well being. I also think that it is interesting that the length of the telomere, which is cause for bipolar, is hereditary. That can be a factor, but doesn't completely decide if you have it or not. What else can determine that could also be the environment and stress, which is also a scientific reason as to why you should put your self in the best and most positive situation.
ReplyDeleteAaron Ashby
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