Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar Disorder

Bipolar disorder is a type of manic depression classified

by those affected having extreme polar opposite emotions. Those

who suffer from bipolar disorder, go from extreme highs (mania)

to very lows, (depression). Because this illness deals with such

drastic changes in behavior, it is essential that those who

suffer take medical action in treatment of their disorder,

unlike other depressions that may be treated with therapy only.

Medical treatment with the use of drugs is so important when

treating those who suffer from bipolar disorder, because its

causes can be predicted to begin at the neuron level. One of

these treatments, as discussed throughout this paper, is Lithium

in its common for, Lithium Carbonate.

Lithium is thought to affect the way the way the synaptic

transmitters carry information across the neurons in the body.

Although it is unknown how exactly this process works,

researches believe that the synapse is the location of the

neuron that is affected by lithium use. The synapse of a cell

can be defined as a point of communication at the gap between

two neurons or between a neuron and a muscle, (Kalant, 2004).

Because the synapse deals with communication, the synapse is an

extremely busy and complicated part of the neuron.

Due to the belief that Lithium is impacts a cell primarily

at the synapse, it also affects the cell at the axon of the pre-

synaptic cell, and the dendrites of the post-synaptic cell. An

axon is the part of the cell that conducts information away from

the cell body, and eventually across the synapse, where the

branch like fibers of the post-synaptic dendrites receives the

information.

Exact Process Unknown:

Lith...

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