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Introduction: Studies that have compared the cognitive alterations of the children of parents with bipolar disorder (CPBD) versus the children of control parents (CCP), present heterogeneous results due to the studies' methodological differences, the age of the population studied, and the lack of standardisation of the measures used for the different neurocognitive domains. The objective was to compare the neurocognitive profile of CPBD versus CCP to observe if there are differences that could be proposed as possible endophenotypes of BD., Results: A total of 107 individuals (51 CPBD, and 56 CCP) with ages between 6 and 16 (mean, 12.2±2.80) years of age were evaluated. Seventy-four point five percent of the CPBD group had some disorder compared to 67.9% of the CCP group. Tests such as letter-F phonemic verbal fluency, letter-S phonemic verbal fluency, overall F-A-S phonemic verbal fluency, story recall and retrieval, and Wisconsin perseverative errors showed a difference with a small effect size, but with a high degree of uncertainty., Conclusions: The CPBD did not have differences in their neurocognitive profile in comparison with CCP. Both groups have a high prevalence of psychopathology, which is a factor that could explain the lack of differences in neurocognitive performance., (Copyright © 2021 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic condition with serious consequences on the health and functionality of patients who suffer from it, with a high heritability and segregation, and aprevalence of between 1% and 2%. Neuropsychological deficits have been implicated as a very important issue related to BD prognosis, so a review was conducted of these deficits, the related factors and their functional consequences. It has been determined that the presence of neuropsychological deficits can vary in patients with BD according to their mood state, with a great influence of depressive symptoms on the cognitive variability of patients with respect to the general population and differences with respect to patients in the manic phase. In euthymic patients, the most affected cognitive domains are those of memory, attention, and executive function, associated with a more severe disease, sociodemographic vulnerability factors, and stable over time. A relationship has been found between poor cognitive performance, especially executive dysfunction, and objective functional deficit. Furthermore, cognitive differences have been outlined between BD and other serious mental illnesses that are described in this review., (Copyright © 2020 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The offspring of bipolar parents (BO) is a high-risk population for inheriting the bipolar disorder (BD) and other early clinical manifestations, such as sleep disturbances., Objective: To compare the presence of psychiatric disorders and sleep disturbances of BO versus offspring of control parents (OCP)., Methods: A cross-sectional analytical study was conducted that compared BO versus OCP. The participants were assessed using valid tools to determine the presence of psychiatric symptoms or disorders. The "Sleep Evaluation Questionnaire" and "School Sleep Habits Survey" were used to determine sleep characteristics and associated factors. Sleep records (7-21 days) were also obtained by using an actigraphy watch., Results: A sample of 42 participants (18 BO and 24 OCP) was recruited. Differences were found in the presentation of the psychiatric disorder. The BO group showed a higher frequency of major depression disorder (MDD; P = .04) and Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder (DMDD; P = .04). The OCP group showed a higher frequency of Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD; P = .65), and Separation Anxiety Disorder (SAD; P = .46). Differences were also found in sleep by using subjective measurements. Compared to the OCP group, BO had a worse perception of quality of sleep (P = .02), a higher frequency of nightmares (P = .01), a shorter total sleep time, and a higher sleep latency. Nevertheless, no differences were found between groups in the actigraphy measurements., Conclusions: The BO group had a higher frequency of Mood Disorders, and at the same time a higher number of sleep disturbances in the subjective measurements. It is possible that there is an association between mood symptoms, sleep disturbances, and coffee intake. No differences were found in the sleep profile by using actigraphy., (Copyright © 2020 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Bipolar disorder (BD) has a large hereditary component. It is a disorder that begins in early adulthood, but about which it has been described a premorbid period preceding the onset of BD. During this herald expression psychiatric disorders and symptoms, such as depressive, manic, psychotic, anxious and others, may appear., Objective: To determine the psychopathological profile of a Bipolar Offspring (BO) group compared with the Community Control Offspring (CCO) group, and its evolution over time, including subthreshold symptoms and mental disorders., Methods: We conducted an observational mixed cohort study, with a prospective design. We included subjects from six to 30 years of age, from the region of Antioquia, Colombia. A total of 131 subjects from the risk group BO and 150 subjects from the CCO group were evaluated through validated psychiatric diagnostic interviews (K-SADS-PL and DIGS) at baseline and at 4 years follow up. All interviews were carried out by a staff blind to parent diagnoses. Follow-up assessment were complete in 72% of the offspring. Forty-two subjects were excluded as they surpassed the age of 30 years, and only 46 subjects were not followed (change of address or did not consent to participate)., Results: Compared with the CCO group, the BO group had a higher frequency of affective disorder, psychotic disorder, externalizing disorders and use of the psychoactive substances during both assessments at time 1 and 2. The magnitude of the differences between the groups increased when they reach time 2. The BO group had a greater risk for presenting subthreshold symptoms and definitive psychiatric disorders, such as affective disorders, psychotic disorders and externalizing disorders. In addition, the BO group had a younger age of onset for psychoactive substances consumption., Conclusion: During the follow-up period, the BO group had a higher risk of presenting mental disorders compared with the CCO group. The most relevant symptoms and disorders that could precede the onset of BD were depressive, bipolar not otherwise specified, psychotic and substance use., (Copyright © 2020 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Published by Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Objective: to know the prevalence and characteristics of pain, to verify how pain management has been carried out by the health services, and to correlate suicide risk with pain intensity in patients with bipolar disorder., Method: an observational study with a quantitative approach. The study included people with bipolar disorder assessed by the McGill-Reduced Pain Questionnaire, Body Diagram, Visual Numerical Scale, and the Suicidal Ideation Scale (Beck)., Results: the sample of 60 participants was mainly composed of women with a mean age of 40 years old and a mean psychiatric treatment time of approximately 13 years. Of these, 83% reported feeling pain at the time of the interview. Half of the participants indicated that pain interferes with routine and 80% did not receive care in health institutions. The main descriptors that qualify the painful experience were as follows: painful, heavy and sensitive for the sensory descriptors, tiring and punishing in the affective category. Suicide attempt was reported by 57% of the participants. There was a correlation between suicide risk and pain intensity., Conclusion: pain presented a high prevalence. Suicide risk was identified in more than half of the participants. Pain intensity showed a significant correlation with suicide risk.

Introduction: Suicidal ideation and attempts are strongly predictive of suicide deaths. Furthermore, suicide attempts exert a financial burden of millions of dollars on society., Objective: To establish the factors associated with more than one suicide attempt in the Colombian population that was reported in 2016., Methods: A cross-sectional study of 18,763 reports entered in the database of the National Public Health Surveillance of the National Institute of Health of Colombia during 2016 was performed., Results: 11,738 (62.6%) of the total number of reports were female, the mean age was 25.0 (95% CI, 24.9-25.2) years, 46% of all cases were individuals between 10- and 20-years-old; 5,734 (30.6%) reported 2 or more suicide attempts and the prevalence of a mental disorder and persistent suicidal ideation were 48.5% and 16.4%, respectively. The factor most strongly associated with more than one suicide attempt, after adjusting for logistic regression, was persistent suicide ideation with crude OR=5.5 (95% CI, 5.0-5.9), and ORa=4.0 (95% CI, 3.6-4.3)., Conclusions: Patients with persistent suicidal ideation were 4 times more likely to have 2 or more suicide attempts. Other factors such as the use of a sharp weapon as a mechanism to perform the attempt and the history of bipolar affective disorder and/or depression were also associated with more than one suicide attempt., (Copyright © 2018 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Bipolar disorder (BD) is reported to be the mental disorder with the highest rate of comorbidity with substance use disorders (SUD). More than half of patients with BD have been found to have disorders associated with alcohol use., Methods: A secondary analysis was performed in a population sample of Colombian adults. The aim was to identify bipolar-alcohol comorbidity and factors related to the use of alcohol in people with BD. The diagnosis of BD among participants was made with the "Composite International Diagnostic Interview" (CIDI-CAPI) and the pattern of alcohol consumption in the last year was evaluated with the AUDIT C screening tool., Results: It was found that all patients with BD had some type of problematic alcohol consumption pattern. Women with BD were at greater risk of having a dependence-type pattern, using nicotine and marijuana and, among those living in urban areas, had higher rates of suicidal ideation, although that risk was lower if they were in a stable relationship., Discussion: Some of the related factors we identified are new with respect to previous publications and others have already been described in similar studies., Conclusions: Given the importance of such factors in the management of this population and their prognosis, these findings highlight the need to determine consumption patterns of alcohol and other substances in patients with BD., (Copyright © 2018 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Background: Neuropsychiatric disorders represent one of the first causes of disability worldwide. Recognizing the main causes for hospitalization may allow the implementation of interventions to prevent hospitalization and promote ambulatory care., Objective: To describe the trends of mental disorders requiring hospitalization in a neuropsychiatric referral center of a middle-income country., Material and Methods: Observational, cross-sectional, and analytic study. Information was obtained from dismissal letters and from the Department of Epidemiology database in a 16-year period at a neuropsychiatric referral center. Diagnoses and trends through this period were obtained using Spearman's correlation., Results: Schizophrenia represented most of the cases (19%), followed by bipolar disorder (13%). Psychotic disorders (PD) were found to contribute the most to the length of stay (43.76%), followed by mood disorders (MD) (39.07%). Schizophrenia-related dismissals diminished through the years ( r = -751; p = 0.001), whereas depression-related disorders increased ( r = 0.857; p < 0.001)., Conclusions: PD are the first cause of neuropsychiatric hospitalization. MD have an increasing frequency of hospitalization. Longer-stay disorders reflect global and economic burden of disease trends. These results might guide interventions that reduce hospital-based models of care, which represent a great burden in low and middle-income countries. Studies aiming to explain the trends reported are needed.

Introduction: Current classification of bipolar disorder (BD) in type i or type ii, however useful, may be insufficient to provide relevant clinical information in some patients. As a result, complementary classifications are being proposed, like the predominant polarity (PP) based, which is defined as a clear tendency in the patient to present relapses in the manic or depressive poles., Methods: We carried out a search in PubMed and Web of Science databases, following the Preferred Items for Reporting of Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses -PRISMA- guidelines, to identify studies about BD reporting PP. The search is updated to June 2016., Results: Initial search revealed 907 articles, of which 16 met inclusion criteria. Manic PP was found to be associated with manic onset, drug consumption prior to onset and a better response to atypical antipsychotics and mood stabilisers. Depressive PP showed an association with depressive onset, more relapses, prolonged acute episodes, a greater suicide risk and a later diagnosis of BD. Depressive PP was also associated with anxiety disorders, mixed symptoms, melancholic symptoms and a wider use of quetiapine and lamotrigine., Limitations: Few prospective studies. Variability in some results., Conclusion: PP may be useful as a supplement to current BD classifications. We have found consistent data on a great number of studies, but there is also contradictory information regarding PP. Further studies are needed, ideally of a prospective design and with a unified methodology., (Copyright © 2017 SEP y SEPB. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) occurs more frequently in first-degree relatives. It is believed that this risk is not specific to this disorder but also occurs with other psychopathologies. The study of siblings of ADHD probands is an interesting field since they share common environmental factors., Methods: This is a narrative literature review. A bibliographic search was performed on PubMed and PsychNet databases and topic-related publications were included without date of publication or study design limits., Results: Siblings of patients with ADHD have a higher likelihood of having this disorder when compared to controls, with odds ratios (OR) ranging between 11.4 and 13.5. Among these siblings, ADHD prevalence ranges between 26 and 45.2%. Siblings with ADHD and those without ADHD have an increased risk of having other disorders, the most frequent being oppositional defiant disorder (ODD)., Conclusions: Siblings of people with ADHD have an increased risk of having the same disorder. The risk of having another psychiatric disorder markedly increases when the sibling also presents ADHD; this is especially true for ODD, substance use disorder and bipolar disorder., (Copyright © 2017 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Literature reports show that Bipolar Offspring (BO) present with a wide range of psychiatric disorders. Comparison between BO and Control Parent Offspring (CPO) may help to identify which psychopathological findings are specific to this high-risk group., Objective: To compare the psychopathological characteristics between a group of BO type-I and a group of CPO, by identifying the presence of psychiatric disorders according the DSM-IV-TR., Methods: A descriptive-correlational, cross-sectional and comparative study was conducted with 127 offspring of parents with bipolar disorder type-I from the multimodal intervention program (PRISMA) and with 150 CPO between 6 and 30 years of age. Subjects were evaluated with validated diagnostic interviews (K-SADS-PL and DIGS)., Results: The BO group showed higher frequencies for bipolar disorder (Prevalence Ratio [PR]=17.70; 95% confidence interval [CI]; 1.02 - 306.83), bipolar disorder not otherwise specified (PR=23.07, 95% CI; 2.8 - 189.0, P=.0001), disorders due to psychoactive substance use (PR=9.52, 95% CI; 2.93 -30.90), oppositional defiant disorder (PR=4.10, 95% CI; 1.70 -9.89), posttraumatic stress disorder (PR=3.90, 95% CI 1.30 -11.66), disorder due to alcohol use (PR=3.84, 95% CI; 1.28 -11.48), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (PR=2.26, 95% CI; 1.37 -3.75), and major depressive disorder (PR=2.25, 95% CI; 1.13 -4.50). Statistically significant differences were also found in the CGAS and GAF functional scales, with lower scores for the BO group., Conclusion: These findings confirm previous literature reports showing that BO have higher rates of affective and non-affective psychiatric disorders than control subjects, and also a lower level of global functioning., (Copyright © 2016 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

Given its prevalence and impact on public health, the comorbidity of bipolar and substance use disorders is one of the most relevant of dual diagnoses. The objective was to evaluate the characteristics of patients from community mental health and substance abuse centres in Madrid. The sample consisted of 837 outpatients from mental health and substance abuse centres. We used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) and Personality Disorder Questionnaire (PDQ4+) to evaluate axis I and II disorders. Of these patients, 174 had a lifetime bipolar disorder, 83 had bipolar disorder type I and 91 had type II. Most patients had dual pathology. Of the 208 participants from the mental health centres, 21 had bipolar disorder and 13 (61.9%) were considered dually-diagnosed patients, while 33.2% of non-bipolar patients had a dual diagnoses (p = 0.03). Of the 629 participants from the substance abuse centres, 153 patients (24.3%) had a bipolar diagnosis. Bipolar dual patients had higher rates of alcohol and cocaine dependence than non-bipolar patients. Moreover, age at onset of alcohol use was earlier in bipolar duallydiagnosed patients than in other alcoholics. Bipolar dually-diagnosed patients had higher personality and anxiety disorder comorbidities and greater suicide risk. Thus, alcohol and cocaine are the drugs most associated with bipolar disorder. Given the nature of the study, the type of relationship between these disorders cannot be determined.

Lithium continues to be the treatment of choice for bipolar disorder. Acute lithium poisoning is a potentially serious event. We present a retrospective observational significative study of episodes of acute lithium poisoning during a 52- month period. Poisoning was defined by a blood lithium concentration of 1.5 mEq/L or higher. We analyzed treatment and epidemiologic and clinical characteristics of 70 episodes were identified (incidence density among treated patients, 1.76 per 100 patient-years). The most frequent cause of lithium poisoning was a concurrent medical condition (46%). Most poisonings were mild (74.2%), but neurologic involvement was identified in 40.3%. Electrocardiographic abnormalities were found in 8 cases. Acute renal failure, found in 23 patients (37.1%), was mild in most cases, although 11 patients required hemodialysis. We concluded that acute lithium poisoning is an uncommon complication, but risk needs to be lowered. Patients should be warned to avoid dosage errors and to take special care during concurrent illnesses and while taking other medications.

Introduction: There was a prevalence of mental disorders of 17% in adolescents in the past year. These tended to be chronic and their appearance at this age is associated with a worse prognosis than those in adulthood., Objectives: To determine the prevalence and mental factors associated with major depression and anxiety disorders., Methods: Data were obtained from the IV National Mental Health Survey representing 5 regions. A structured computerised survey was conducted using the Computer Assisted Personal Interview-Composite International Diagnostic Interview-Adolescent Version (CAPI-CIDI-A), focused on the most common depression and anxiety disorders. It included a sample of 1754 adolescents between 12 and 17 years old., Results: The prevalence of any disorder at some point in life was 7.2% (95%CI, 5.8-8.9). The most common disorder corresponded to social phobia manifested sometime in life in 4.8% (95%CI, 3.7-6.2). Less frequent were panic disorder in girls (0.2%; 95% CI, 0.1-1.0) and other bipolar disorders in boys (0.2%; 95%CI, 0.1-0.7). Among the associated factors of suffering from any disorder were, being female (OR=2.1), having little family support (OR=2.0), having witnessed at least one traumatic event (OR=2.6), and having had a previous suicide attempt (OR=3.4). Participation in at least one group was a protective factor (OR=0.5)., Conclusions: Mental disorders of anxiety and depression represent a major burden of disease for Colombia., (Copyright © 2016 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: In order to address the mental health problems of the Colombian population it is necessary to have diagnostic tools (local and international) that are valid, easy to apply, and comparable., Objective: To compare the sensitivity and specificity between the CIDI 3.0 and the SCID-I for major depressive disorder, bipolar I and II disorder, and substance dependence disorder., Methodology: Cross-sectional study comparing the life prevalence of three mental disorders in 100 subjects using the CIDI 3.0 and the SCID-I. The study was approved by the Institutional Ethics Committee. The two diagnostic interviews were performed that measured by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value and negative predictive value with confidence intervals of 95%. The SPSS version 21.0 software was used for data analysis., Results: The median age was 43.5 years, with an interquartile interval of 30 years. The highest sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) was observed for drug dependence diagnosis - with 80%, (95%CI, 34.94-100), and 98.46 (95%CI, 94.7-100), respectively., Conclusions: SCID-I and CIDI 3.0 showed different levels of sensitivity and specificity for the three disorders studied with: high for substance dependence disorder, moderate for bipolar disorder I and II, and low for major depressive disorder., (Copyright © 2015 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: patients with severe mental ilness such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder die at least 20 years earlier than general population. Despite preventive strategies, cardiovascular disease is the first cause of death., Objectives: analyse the percentage of patients with a high body mass index, metabolic syndrome and their cardiovascular risk at 10 years in patients with a diagnosis, based in DSM-IV criteria for schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder or bipolar disorder. These patients were hospitalized because and acute condition of their mental ilness in the Brief Hospitalization Unit of Hospital Universitario de Móstoles between November of 2014 and June of 2015., Material and Methods: in 53 patients, 34 with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, 16 with a diagnosis of bipolar disorder and 3 with a schizoaffective disorder, weight, size abdominal perimeter measures and blood pressure were collected. The body mass index was assesed. Blood tests were taken and we use sugar, triglycerides, total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol levels as paramethers for the ATP III and Framingham criteria. We also review the clinical history of the patients and lifestyle and use of toxic substances were registered., Results: 51% of the patients were men and 49% were women. The average age was 40. 38% of the patients were overweighed, 22% obese and 4% had morbid obesity. 26% of the patients had metabolic syndrome, the clinical evolution of the majority of these patients was of more tan 10 years and they also have been treated with different antypsychotics and antidepressants. Using the Framingham criteria, 11% of the patients had a cardiovascular risk higher than 10 % in the next 10 years., Conclusions: overweight and its consequences in patients with a severe mental ilness are intimately related with their lifestyle, disparities in the access to health resources, the clinical evolution of the disease and pharmacotherapy. Strategies to promote physical health in these patients in the spanish health sistme are insufficient., (Copyright AULA MEDICA EDICIONES 2014. Published by AULA MEDICA. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: The comorbidity of bipolar disorder and eating disorders has not been studied in depth. In addition, clinical implications involved in the appearance of both disorders are very important., Material and Methods: A systematic literature review of MEDLINE published up to September 2013 was performed, analyzing all the articles that studied the comorbidity of both conditions (bipolar disorder and eating disorders) and others research that studied the efficacy of pharmacological treatment and psychotherapy to improve these illnesses., Results: In this review we found a high comorbidity of bipolar disorder and eating disorders, especially of bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder. Studies show that lithium and topiramate are 2 of the more effective pharmacological agents in the treatment of both disorders., Conclusion: There are a lot of studies that show evidence of comorbidity of bipolar disorder and eating disorders. However, further research is needed on assessment and treatment when these conditions co-exist, as well as study into the biopsychological aspects to determine the comorbid aetiology., (Copyright © 2014 SEP y SEPB. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: Offspring of bipolar parents are a high risk population for the develop of mental diseases, their study allow determining the genetic risk, early symptoms, prodromes and psychopathology of bipolar disorder., Objective: To describe the psychopathological characteristics and neurocognitives profiles of the offspring of bipolar type I parents. And to identify the presence of sub-syndromal symptoms in all the symptom domains., Methods: A descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted on 110 offspring between 6 and 30 years old. Semi-structured diagnostic interviews were performed. The intelectual coeficient was determined and a neuropsychological assessment was performed on 89 offspring., Results: The most prevalent disorder in the offspring was ADHD (27.6%), with major depression (15.5%) and separation anxiety (14.1%) also being prevalent. Seven patients of the sample were diagnosed with bipolar disorder. There was a statistically significant difference between the age groups for ADHD prevalence. The most frequent sub-syndromal symptoms were observed in the disruptive group. Alterations in the cognitive domains: attention, verbal fluency, work memory, and speed of information processing, were observed in the group younger than 18 years., Conclusions: The offspring of bipolar parents have an elevated rate of psychopathology and cognitive alterations. They are a high risk population for the development of mental disease. These subjects also require close longitudinal observation and early and preventive therapeuthic interventions., (Copyright © 2014 Asociación Colombiana de Psiquiatría. Publicado por Elsevier España. All rights reserved.)

Introduction: This research aims to determine if there is a relation between high depressive symptoms and the risk of suffering from bipolar disorder in university students, as well as describing demographic variables and career preferences association with these variables., Methods: A self-survey was carried out with 823 students who were asked to fill out the Beck Depression Inventory and the Bipolar Spectrum Disorder Scale., Results: 12.7% of the population showed symptoms related to clinical depression while 1.9% presented either moderated or high bipolar disorder risk. The 22.4% of those who suffered from clinical depression showed high and moderated bipolar disorder risk. The 43.8% of those who showed high probability of suffering from bipolar disorder risk received psychopharmacological treatment and 87.5% received psychological treatment. The 12.5% of those who were detected as probable bipolar patients never received any treatment, 40% of them were studying an artistic career., Conclusion: The percentage of college students at high risk of bipolar disorder is similar to what have been found in the international literature. In people with high levels of depression symptomatology the risk increases being one in four of them at risk for bipolar disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a chronic and recurrent mood disorder, which may severely impact on the patient's global functioning. It has been estimated that approximately 1.6% of the population is affected. A long delay in diagnosis and an excessive disparity in the treatment of these patients have been detected. Within the Quality Plan of the Spanish National Health System, one of the key strategies is to improve clinical practice through the development and use of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs). In this context, the CPG on bipolar disorder arises from an agreement between the Ministry of Health and the University of Alcalá, involving the Spanish Association of Neuropsychiatry as developer and project manager. Its main objective is to develop recommendations on the diagnostic, therapeutic and rehabilitative care for patients with bipolar disorder, primarily applicable in the public mental health services. In this paper we present the main recommendations on pharmacological and psychosocial interventions in bipolar disorder., (Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.)

A detailed review was published in 2004 on the therapeutic properties of the medications used in the treatment of bipolar disorders (Tamayo, JM et al. Actas Esp Psiquiatr 2004;32(Supl. 1):3-17). At the time it could be concluded that although mood stabilizers (euthymics) share some action mechanisms, they are also significantly different from each other with respect to their therapeutic properties in the various phases of bipolar disorders. This led to a proposed change in their generic classification as “mood stabilizers” to a new classification that includes: antimanic medications, partial mood stabilizers, and euthymics. Since then, several randomized, double-blind studies and meta-analyses that explore the effectiveness and tolerability of these medications have been published. This updated review aims to assess the validity of the proposed classification in the light of new evidence.

Affective psychoses include those disorders with psychotic and affective symptoms described in the DSM-IV-TR. In these pathologies, the prevalence of nicotine dependence is very high. The objective here is to carry out a review of the relation between nicotine use and psychiatric disorders considered as affective psychoses at the epidemiological, clinical, prognostic and treatment levels. We review studies published in the PubMed database that include the keywords smoking, tobacco, nicotine and schizoaffective or bipolar disorder. Comorbidity of bipolar and schizoaffective disorder with nicotine consumption is 66-82.5 % and 67%, respectively. On the basis of this review it can be concluded that smoking results in poorer prognosis and greater clinical seriousness of bipolar and schizoaffective disorders. Use of other substances, psychiatric diagnosis, clinical seriousness and caffeine consumption are risk factors for nicotine use. The most effective treatment approach is pharmacological treatment in combination with psychological interventions. The first-line medication for tobacco detoxification and dishabituation are substitution therapy (transdermal patches, sprays, sublingual tablets, sucking pills or nicotine chewing gums), varenicline and bupropion. The medically indicated treatment for psychotic symptoms is atypical antipsychotics, due to their better tolerability profile and better results in smoking cessation.

Background: Exposure to solar activity may be associated with incidence of depressive and manic disorders., Aim: To assess the link between solar activity and appearance of affective disorders., Material and Methods: We examined 1862 clinical records of a psychiatric clinic located in Santiago, Chile. Patients with major depression and manic disorders were included in the study, only when they were admitted at the clinic for the first time. Solar activity was calculated using the Wolf number, which is given by the formula R = K(10g+f), where "g" stands for the groups of sunspots and "f" is the total number of sunspots. We examined the correlation between annual incidence of hospital admissions and average Wolf numbers for the period 1990-2005, which corresponds to approximately one and half solar cycles of 16 years., Results: A total of 450 medical records corresponding to 299 patients (199 women) with depressive symptoms and 151 patients (73 women) with mania, were analyzed. There was a higher number of admissions for depression during the years with lower solar activity. Admissions due to mania tended to increase in the years with high solar activity. There was a negative correlation between the number of hospital admissions due to depression and solar activity (Spearman r = -0.812, p < 0.01). The association between the latter parameter and admissions due to mania did not reach statistical significance., Conclusions: There is a significant negative association between the rate of hospital admissions due to depressive disorders and solar activity.

The relationship between bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder remains controversial since in both conditions there are overlapping and similar symptomatic dimensions. Symptomatic dimensions suitable to subserve differential diagnosis are: mood, mood variability mode, and personal and family history. Characteristics of psychotic symptoms may also be useful in the differentiation. On the other hand, anxiety symptoms, neuropsychological profiles, neuro-imaging procedures and biomarkers seem not to contribute to differentiate between both diseases. The presentation of nonsuicidal self mutilation behavior can offer some differences between bipolar and borderline personality disorders, but both can coexist in clinical comorbid forms and do not significantly contribute to the differential diagnosis. Differential diagnosis is complicated by the fact that a low percentage of patients can experience comorbidity of both conditions. In this work we review all these issues, and particularly emphasize the importance of sitematically take into account the patient background, the course that follows his or her disorder, together with the outcome in response to medical decisions.

Introduction: The purpose of this research is to establish if there is a seasonal pattern in hospitalizations due to affective episodes of bipolar disorder in Hospital Colonia Santa María, Córdoba, Argentina, between 2000-2003., Materials and Methods: The affective episodes considered were those which required patient hospitalization with bipolar disorder diagnosis (ICD-10). Medical histories were analyzed subsequently, according to the DSM-IV criteria. The episodes considered were those with hospitalization during all the pathobiographical history of the patient., Outcome: 84 affective episodes were considered. 43 were maniac (51%), 20 were depressive (24%), 15 were mixed (18%) and 6 were hypomaniac (7%). A statistically significant association was found (p0.001) between affective episodes of bipolar disorder and the season of the year, with a seasonal pattern of mania-hypomania in summer and depression in winter. Mixed episodes were distributed more consistently in the year with a peak in summer., Conclusion: In this research a relationship is established between bipolar disorder and seasonal nature in hospitalizations.

The amygdaloid complex is a group of nuclei located deep in the temporal lobe and closely involved in the limbic system. Its alteration has been associated with some psychiatric processes. In this article, an overall review was made of the published data concerning the amygdaloid complex in the most common psychiatric diseases. A damaged amygdaloid complex is commonly observed, that in the Klüver-Bucy syndrome presents the fullest expression. A decrease in the amygdaloid complex of schizophrenic patients has been observed. This finding was found bilaterally in men whereas in women it was only located in one hemisphere. This finding suggests that morphometric alterations in the amygdaloid complex are more diffuse and more severe in men with schizophrenia. This subcortical complex is larger in children with autism, but not in adolescents, in whom the amygdaloid complex volume matches the normal volume of an adolescent or an adult without this pathology. However, neuroanatomical studies have shown microscopic alterations. In patients with mood disorders, it has been reported that the left amygdaloid complex presents a lesser volume. Moreover, in frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer disease a slight amygdaloid atrophia was found related to the healthy controls. It can be concluded that the amygdaloid complex is involved in several psychiatric processes, due to structural or functional damage. However, more studies are still needed in order to delimitate the real influence of the amygdaloid complex in these disorders.

Objective: To describe the pathways of formal and informal services utilization in urban low income population presenting depressive, dysthymic and bipolar disorders., Methods: Information was gathered in face to face interviews using a standardized questionnaire that included sections from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview and one section on service utilization. Interviewees (n=1,486) were selected through stratified socioeconomic variables and a random multistep sample of households of Mexico City., Results: A significant proportion of individuals with affective disorders attended at the same time to formal and informal services. It was observed that the majority of individuals established the first contact with a general practitioner (81% of the men with depressive disorders, 100% with dysthymia and 36% with bipolar disorders; 44.4% of the women with depression, 23% with dysthymia and 100% with bipolar disorders). Also, 45% of men with depression, 40% with dysthymia and 65% of the women with bipolar disorders sought help through resources provided by alternative medicines., Conclusions: The combination of various medical systems has at least two roles: 1) increases the set of care options and thereby maximize healthcare resources available; 2) allows to approaching different aspects of the same illness that a single medical system is unable to meet its complexity.

Introduction: The present work discusses the link between solar activity and appearance of affective disorders. Solar activity is reflected by the Wolf number, which is given by the formula R = K (10 g + f), where g corresponds to the groups of sunspots and f is the total number of sunspots., Methods: We examined 1,212 clinical files at the Clínica Psiquiátrica Universitaria, Santiago de Chile. Patients with major depressions and manic disorders, who were admitted to the clinic for the first time and had no previous treatment were considered. We examined the correlation between annual incidence of hospitalization and average Wolf numbers for those years, included in the period 1990-2000, which corresponds to a complete solar cycle of 11 years., Results: An important number of hospitalizations of depressive patients occurred during years of low solar activity, and there was a slight increase in the number of manic patients during years of high solar activity. Depressive disorders showed a negative correlation with solar activity, the Pearson coefficient being equal to -0.72. Manic disorders showed a positive correlation, with coefficient equal to +0.334., Conclusions: Depressive disorders have an inverse correlation with solar activity, while manic disorders have a positive correlation.

Introduction: The presence of eating disorders in bipolar population is not rare, with rates over 10 %, according to the few available epidemiologic studies, however the literature on this issue is still scarce. An even higher percentage of bipolar individuals suffer from serious problems related to eating behavior without fulfilling criteria for DSM-IV eating disorder., Methods: The Bipolar Eating Disorders Scale (BEDS) was designed on the basis of the existing eating scales, adjusted to the characteristics of bipolar disorders from the complaints of our sample of patients (n=350). Subsequently, a group of experts made the selection of the most representative and independent items in order to obtain a short, 10-item scale, aimed at assessing the intensity and frequency of eating dysfunctions in the bipolar population and not at diagnosis. We administered the scale to a healthy control group (n=55) to evaluate feasibility and to determine the cut-off score., Results: The BEDS is a 10-item simple, self-administered scale. Average time of completing this scale is about 1.13 min (1 min, 21 seconds) +/-26 seconds. Median score was 6 and the mean score was 6.6 with a standard deviation of 3.7, this being the reason why the cut-off point was found to be around 13 points. Patients receiving scores over 13 may require an individualized intervention to evaluate which were the main difficulties and to propose treatment., Conclusions: The BEDS allows for a rapid and effective evaluation of both the intensity and the frequency of eating dysfunctions in bipolar patients in order to perform an adequate intervention for the specific needs of each one of the patients.

Objective: To investigate possible changes in the admission pattern correlated with improvement in psychiatric attention and if there is variability in the diagnosis of patients previously identified as having multiple admissions during the study period., Material and Methods: Our study is based on fifty-nine patients who were admitted on at least ten occasions between 1983-2000. The medical records of the frequent users were reviewed and data were extracted on several variables: principal psychiatric diagnosis (DSM-IV TR criteria) and diagnostic changes as main variables and period, admissions density, admission interval and period between last admission and the end of study, as related variables., Statistical Analyses: Friedman's variance non-parametric analysis for related samples, Pearson's chi-squared test and sequence graphing., Results and Discussion: Improved psychiatric care in our city would seem to correlate with the decreasing number of patients with multiple admissions to the point where there have been no admissions in the past year. Diagnosis (DSM-IV axis I and II) variables showed important variations from one admissions to the next. The psychosocial and adaptation problems that became manifest during the successive admissions tended to improve over time as did the overall functioning of the patients. Our findings suggest that this population is composed of three distinct subgroups. Identification of the subgroups may have important implications for the management and treatment modality.

Unlabelled: The epidemiological projections show that the problems of Mental Health were the main health challenge during the last decade. This situation is particularly worring in our region. The poor operative data in relation to the care of the mental disorders prevent the elaboration of plans on the basis of secure data., Methodology: Records of externation were analized during the period between 1994-1998 in the men Psychiatric Internation Unity in the Psychopatology Service of the Hospital Piñero in Buenos Aires, which is part of the public health service of the city., Results: an average time of internation of 42.8 days was reported (SD 40,3), which was higher than the 11 days reported in institutions of the private health services. An increasing proportional diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder was reported (chi square corresponding to tendencies P<0.01, lineality P<0.001) and a significative decline in the number of diagnosis of Schizophrenia (chi square corresponding to tendencies P<0.05; lineality P<0.05). In this way, the ratio of the diagnosis of Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder changed from 7:1 in 1994 to 1,7:1 in 1998., Conclusions: A variation in the diagnostic habits was observed, suggesting that affective disorders were underdiagnosticated. This tendency was corrected latter. Similar remarks made by other services in the same region support this interpretation of the data.

Background: Different methodologies have been employed for conducting the few studies made on the prevalence of Type I Bipolar Disorders, which makes it impossible to know what impact these disorders have had on public health in Spain. The prevalence of Type I Bipolar Disorders is calculated by the degree to which lithium carbonate is used., Methods: The prevalence is estimated by calculating the daily doses of lithium carbonate prescribed per 100,000 inhabitants/day (Treatment Group, NO5AN) throughout the 1996-1998 period for each one of the provinces in Spain. The data based on the prescriptions written was provided by the Pharmaceutical Planning Bureau of the Ministry of Health and Consumer Affairs., Results: A prevalence of 70 cases/1,000,000 inhabitants/day for the overall population of Spain was estimated., Conclusions: Lithium carbonate usage by provinces and by years affords the possibility of estimating the distribution of Type I Bipolar Disorders in Spain. The figures calculated rank Spain at a low-average prevalence, although the methodological differences prevent it from being possible to draw any final conclusions.