Bipolar Disorder recurrence in a nonagenarian: An uncommon and unfortunate health concern for a senior

Abstract

Bipolar Disorder (BD) may affect people of all ages. Although it was once believed that bipolar symptoms slowly disappear with age, the studies showed that the truth is not so! Untreated BD tends to worsen over time. On the other hand, people who are initially diagnosed with BD late in life may well have had unnoticed BD for decades. As populations grow older, the number of BD cases among the seniors is expected to increase. In late-onset BD, etiopathology may differ from young BD patients. Cardiovascular diseases and some other biological mechanisms may play a significant role in the onset of disease. In this case report, we present a nonagenarian admitted with recurrent BD symptoms after twenty-four years of the symptom-free period. We aimed to discuss possible mechanisms and effective treatment methods of geriatric BD in light of current literature. This is the first case of geriatric BD recurrence reported after such a prolonged symptom-free period of a nonagenarian senior.