Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is a mental illness that brings severe high and low moods and changes in sleep, energy, thinking, and behavior.
Patients who have bipolar disorder can have periods in which they feel overly happy and energized and other periods of feeling very sad, hopeless, and sluggish. In between those periods, they usually feel normal.
It usually starts when people are in late adolescents or young adulthood. The causes are complex. Genes, brain changes, and stress can all play a role. Bipolar disorder can run in families.
Study case
In a study, the research team recruited 16 patients with bipolar depression. The participants were divided into two groups. The first group received “cranial electro-therapy stimulation” for 20 minutes five days a week for 2 weeks, which is similar to electro-acupuncture.
The second group received sham treatment. In this group, the cranial electro-therapy stimulation device was turned on and off. The results showed that the first group receiving cranial electro-therapy stimulation had a decrease in depression symptoms and body pain. The cranial electro-therapy stimulation also improved their quality of life and cognitive functioning when compared with the second group. The research team concluded that cranial electro-therapy stimulation may prove to be an effective and low-risk treatment for patients with bipolar depression.
Sunrise Neuro-Acupuncture Integrative Clinic is an acupuncture and Chinese medicine clinic in Westboro, Ottawa. We provide care for Bipolar Disorders. If you would like to receive more information about this treatment, you can call us at: 613-853-9099
References
1. Dennehy, EB et al. “The Safety, Acceptability, and Effectiveness of Acupuncture as an
2. Adjunctive Treatment for Acute Symptoms in Bipolar Disorder.” The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry., U.S. National Library of Medicine, July 2009
3. McClure, Deimante, et al. “A Pilot Study of Safety and Efficacy of Cranial Electrotherapy
4. Stimulation in Treatment of Bipolar II Depression.” The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 12 Nov. 2015