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Mania in the elderly

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kit Stone
Kit Stone*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Central Manchester Health Authority, Manchester Royal Infirmary; currently Hope Hospital, Eccles Old Road, Salford M6 8HD
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Abstract

A retrospective study of 92 patients admitted with mania, aged over 65 years of age, found that 26% had no prior history of affective illness; 30% had previously only experienced depression, and half of these had at least three episodes of depression before the first manic illness. Patients with a family history of affective disorders had a significantly earlier age of onset of illness. There was evidence of cerebral organic impairment in 24% of the patients, and this group had a significantly later age of onset of illness. Prognosis was good, with only 8% still in hospital at six months. Half of the patients were started on lithium prophylaxis, but this did not significantly alter the number of readmissions. A quarter of those started on lithium developed evidence of lithium toxicity.

Type
Papers
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 155 , Issue 2 , August 1989 , pp. 220 - 224
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989 

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