Diet, weight can affect the response to treatment of bipolar disorder

Washington DC .: A new clinical trial has shown that how people respond to bipolar disorder treatment can be influenced by their weight and the overall quality of their diet, including whether they eat a lot of foods that would contribute to the general inflammation.

These results are early, but if they are repeated, the treatment of some mental health problems could benefit from the inclusion of dietary advice.

Bipolar disorder (formerly known as "manic depression") is characterized by episodes of mood swings, which can be very high or very low, with periods between the two extremes.

The fact that there are two sets of opposing symptoms means that it is difficult to find an effective treatment. Although current medications are helpful, they help better target the symptoms of mania ("active" phase), leaving insufficient treatment for people with depressive episodes.

At present, a group of Australian, German and American scientists has shown that those who follow a high-quality diet, a less inflammatory diet and / or a low BMI (body mass index) can better respond to a complementary nutraceutical treatment provided in the setting of a clinical trial.

Lead researcher Melanie Ashton said, "If we can confirm these results, this is good news for people with bipolar disorder, because there is an urgent need for better treatments for people with bipolar disorder. depressive phase of bipolar disorder. "

The researchers measured the BMI at the beginning of the study, then the depression and the ability of a person to function on a daily basis. The researchers also assessed whether a participant improved and, if so, by how much, over the next 20 weeks.

Participants completed a questionnaire on what they usually ate during the year and the researchers calculated a food quality score, where a good diet included a healthy diet comprising a lot of fruits and vegetables, while lower quality diets contained more saturated fats, refined carbohydrates and alcohol. These types of diets were then classified as anti-inflammatory or pro-inflammatory based on foods that affect inflammation.

This means, if these results can be repeated in a larger trial, that the treatment of bipolar disorder should take into account what a person eats and its weight.

In his commentary, Prof. Eduard Vieta said, "This is an interesting piece of work that suggests that patients with bipolar disorder could benefit from a balanced diet.This is a recent study, and we need more research before thinking if this could affect clinical practice. "

The study was presented at the 31st Conference Congress of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.