In an earlier thread, a couple people wondered out loud about bipolar and autoimmune disorders like Crohn's Disease being genetically related.
There is a growing body of evidence that links a range of autoimmune disorders in family members and increased risk of schizophrenia and non-affective psychosis. The evidence linking bipolar disorder to autoimmune disorders in family members does not appear to be significant except for pernicious anemia.
According to recently published research by William Eaton of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and a team of researchers the only familial level of increased risk for bipolar is associated with pernicious anemia. This is based on a Swedish population-based analysis of these associations in 3.57 million people. About 70,000 cases of schizophrenia, bipolar and non-affective psychosis were identified and analyzed.
There appears to be stronger than expected associations between bipolar and Crohn's Disease, pernicious anemia, Celiac, Guilain-Barre and autoimmune hepatitis within the same person.
So having a family history of autoimmune disorders generally does not seem to be associated with an increased risk of bipolar disorder. But a personal history of a handful of autoimmune disorders is associated with an increased risk of bipolar.
For a more technical summary of a recent poster session on the question of whether Bipolar is an Autoimmune Disorder see the following blog
http://brainposts.blogspot.com/2010/11/is-bipolar-disorder-autoimmune-disorder.html
Patricia
There is a growing body of evidence that links a range of autoimmune disorders in family members and increased risk of schizophrenia and non-affective psychosis. The evidence linking bipolar disorder to autoimmune disorders in family members does not appear to be significant except for pernicious anemia.
According to recently published research by William Eaton of Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University and a team of researchers the only familial level of increased risk for bipolar is associated with pernicious anemia. This is based on a Swedish population-based analysis of these associations in 3.57 million people. About 70,000 cases of schizophrenia, bipolar and non-affective psychosis were identified and analyzed.
There appears to be stronger than expected associations between bipolar and Crohn's Disease, pernicious anemia, Celiac, Guilain-Barre and autoimmune hepatitis within the same person.
So having a family history of autoimmune disorders generally does not seem to be associated with an increased risk of bipolar disorder. But a personal history of a handful of autoimmune disorders is associated with an increased risk of bipolar.
For a more technical summary of a recent poster session on the question of whether Bipolar is an Autoimmune Disorder see the following blog
http://brainposts.blogspot.com/2010/11/is-bipolar-disorder-autoimmune-disorder.html
Patricia
