Dramatic rise of bipolar disorder in young Americans

Medical Studies/Trials
Published: Tuesday, 4-Sep-2007

According to a new study there has been a dramatic rise in the number of young Americans diagnosed with bipolar disorder in recent years.

Bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness, is a brain disorder that causes unusual shifts in a person's mood, energy and ability to function which are not the same as the normal ups and downs that everyone experiences.

The symptoms of bipolar disorder are severe and can result in damaged relationships, poor job or school performance, and even suicide; it distorts moods and thoughts with often dreadful consequences.

The periods of highs and lows are called episodes of mania and depression.

Bipolar disorder affects as many as 5.7 million American adults or about 2.6 percent of the population age 18 and older.

The disorder usually develops in late adolescence or early adulthood but some people experience their first symptoms during childhood, and some develop them late in life.

Many people suffer for years from the disorder before it is properly diagnosed and treated; it is a long-term illness that must be carefully managed throughout a person's life.

The study by researchers from Columbia University, and New York State Psychiatric Institute examined the rates of diagnoses of bipolar disorder between 1994-1995 and 2002-2003 from data on doctor visits.

The study looked at visits by individuals aged 19 and younger compared to adults aged 30 and older.

The research team found that a diagnosis of bipolar disorder in the younger age group increased approximately 40-fold, from 25 per 100,000 in 1994-1995 to 1,003 per 100,000 population in 2002-2003.

In comparison during the same time, the diagnosis of bipolar disorder in adults increased almost 2-fold, from 905 to 1,679 per 100,000.

The researchers, led by Dr. Mark Olfson, from Columbia University say the dramatic increase highlights the need for "reliability studies" to determine the accuracy of diagnoses of child and adolescent bipolar disorder.

The authors suggest two possible explanations for the significant increase in cases of bipolar disorder in young people; it has either been previously under diagnosed in children and adolescents and the problem has now been rectified or else bipolar disorder is currently being over diagnosed in this age group.

The researchers say unless independent systematic diagnostic assessments are conducted they cannot confidently select between the two competing hypotheses.

Possibly of more concern was that Dr. Olfson's team also found that the vast majority of youth and adults were prescribed a psychotropic drug at the time of diagnosis of bipolar disorder.

These included mood stabilizers, antipsychotics and antidepressants and the researchers warn there is an urgent need to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of such drugs in young people diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

The study is published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Great white shark may not kill with brute force

Scientists examine the head of a great white shark. A study shows its bite is not that powerful — but its razor-sharp teeth could do some killer damage.

By Jeanna Bryner

A digital rendering of a great white shark's maw could lead to the first accurate estimate of the power behind a full-force bite.

The shark's ability to inflict killer damage on anything it grabs, however, probably is due to saw-like teeth and not the amount of bite force, the study researchers say. Once a great white clamps down on a prey with its razor-sharp teeth, the shark often shakes the catch from side to side to initiate a sawing action.

Daniel Huber, a biologist at the University of Tampa in Florida, examined an eight-foot (2.4-meter) great white shark that had died after becoming entangled in nets off the coast of Australia. Huber and his colleagues dissected the shark's head and took several measurements, including the size and placement of the jaw muscles.

Students seek gear with get up and go

Students heading back to campus this fall have plenty of choices when picking a PC, and it's clear what most will be opting for: anything that can be packed up and taken to go.

"Almost nobody is going to buy a desktop for college," said Samir Bhavnani, an analyst with Current Analysis West. "This year there's a lot more to choose from than in years past: Apple's more broadly distributed than before, Acer's on the shelves almost everywhere now, and people can go get a Lenovo ThinkPad today on the retail shelf."

But besides portability, students seek style. The run-of-the-mill black box that just gets the job done isn't nearly as compelling as a sleek, shiny notebook with lots of bells and whistles, like Bluetooth connectivity, integrated Webcams, and fast boot times. And lightness and mobility is key, of course. But it's not just PCs students want—it's extras like smart phones, digital cameras, all-in-one printers, and of course, a hip case in which to lug their new notebook around.
Popular student gadgets

Although growth rates have slowed, sales of notebooks in the traditional "back to school" period of mid-July through mid-August were up 24 percent compared with last year, according to data collected by the NPD Group. The average selling price was down 10 percent, NPD said. Desktops, predictably, declined 23 percent in units sold.

Nine of Amazon.com's 10 best-selling PCs this month are notebooks, with the list dominated by Toshiba and Apple. Toshiba's 15-inch Satellite notebook was the top seller in August, followed by Apple's MacBook, HP's Pavilion TX1220, Sony's Vaio, the MacBook Pro and Toshiba's 13-inch Satellite.

Of course, this list accounts for the early-bird shoppers, but not the price-sensitive buyers who are waiting out the summer for the best back-to-school deals--a trend that retail industry observers have started to see crop up this time of year and after the typical holiday shopping crush.

But the deals this season aren't necessarily as jaw-dropping as in years past. Due to price stabilization in the market and factors like a new operating system from Microsoft this year, the value that consumers will be getting is better this year, according to Bhavnani.

"We've seen a bunch of $599 systems with 2GB of memory...(which) is basically unheard of," he said.

Traditionally notebooks haven't been a sensible choice if a customer was looking for the computing power of a desktop. But that's changing too. Smaller, lighter laptops are packing more punch these days, which incidentally lends well to being toted between lecture halls, the library and the quad.

"We've been seeing big interest in anything you can carry around and not get a shoulder ache," said John Zittrauer, an employee in one of Best Buy's New York City stores.

Students' preferences for notebook size are generally broken down by area of study: art or media majors want wide screens, and business students need number keypads on the side, Zittruaer said. The store where he works is located close to several colleges, including New York University and the Fashion Institute of Technology.

Have to have a smart phone
Though not every student will be showing up for the fall semester flashing an iPhone, smart phones are definitely on the "have to have" list.

"I've seen more people my age looking for BlackBerrys," said Best Buy's Zittrauer, 25. It's a departure from the BlackBerry or Treo user stereotype, which has long been the buttoned-up, briefcase-toting business type, not college kids clad in flip-flops, jeans and hoodies.

Besides the usual peripherals like printers, mice and power supplies, going back to school now means not necessarily having to be far away. Webcams are popular with parents for video-conferencing with their far-flung children, but integrated Webcams are even more popular since they're often better at facilitating self-made video uploads to YouTube, said Bhavnani. Toshiba is also including Skype on some of its laptops.

Though media-oriented features are clearly popular with students, the one that hasn't quite taken off yet is the inclusion of HD DVD or Blu-ray drives.

"That's largely a price point-driven thing," Bhavnani said. "That's probably next year."

3,000-year-old beehives found in Israel

Best evidence yet that region really was the ‘land of milk and honey’

By Matti Friedman

JERUSALEM - Archaeologists digging in northern Israel have discovered evidence of a 3,000-year-old beekeeping industry, including remnants of ancient honeycombs, beeswax and what they believe are the oldest intact beehives ever found.

The findings in the ruins of the city of Rehov this summer include 30 intact hives dating to around 900 B.C., archaeologist Amihai Mazar of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University told The Associated Press. He said it offers unique evidence that an advanced honey industry existed in the Holy Land at the time of the Bible.

Beekeeping was widely practiced in the ancient world, where honey used for medicinal and religious purposes as well as for food, and beeswax was used to make molds for metal and to create surfaces to write on. While bees and beekeeping are depicted in ancient artwork, nothing similar to the Rehov hives has ever been found before, Mazar said.