I previously posted about bipolar disorder (in relation to Jesse Jackson Jr's shopping spree and his claim that he suffers from the disorder). Now the issue is in the news again due to a possible breakthrough in treatment.
From today's article in The Independent, "Genetic tests may help bipolar disorder patients:"
Scientists have identified a group of patients with a genetic predisposition to mental illness, opening up for the first time the prospect of personalised medicine in psychiatry.
Personalised medicine involves identifying groups of patients whose genes make them susceptible to certain diseases and responsive to certain drugs. Researchers from University College, London (UCL) studied 1,000 patients with bipolar disorder and found 1.7 per cent carried a mutation in an important brain receptor gene putting them at increased risk of the disease.
The findings suggest the patients with the mutation, called GRM3, could be treated with existing drugs which are not currently used for bipolar disorder.
For a novel about bipolar disorder, you might like The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick:
Meet Pat. Pat has a theory: his life is a movie produced by God. And his God-given mission is to become physically fit and emotionally literate, whereupon God will ensure a happy ending for him -- the return of his estranged wife Nikki. (It might not come as a surprise to learn that Pat has spent time in a mental health facility.) The problem is, Pat's now home, and everything feels off. No one will talk to him about Nikki; his beloved Philadelphia Eagles keep losing; he's being pursued by the deeply odd Tiffany; his new therapist seems to recommend adultery as a form of therapy. Plus, he's being hunted by Kenny G!
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