Such drastic mood swings are a hallmark of bipolar disorder, the subject of several current and proposed research projects in the UA Department of Psychiatry .
Researchers plan at least three studies to examine different aspects of the illness.
The first will involve patients who have been diagnosed with and need treatment for acute manic episodes. These episodes are characterized by symptoms such as a persistently elevated, expansive or irritable mood, recklessness and racing thoughts. Future studies will examine the use of antidepressants to treat the flip side of bipolar disorder, and still another effort will address treatment for women with bipolar disorder who also are of childbearing age. Keeping our Borders Healthy Collaboration along the Arizona-Mexico border and further south into Latin America is giving UA researchers an opportunity to promote disease prevention strategies and investigate new treatments for infectious diseases, women's health problems and other common ailments. Researchers, led by Dr. Barbara Timmerman, hope to find elements for new prescription medicines to treat ailments such as cancer or cardiovascular, central nervous system and gastrointestinal disorders.