Binge eating disorder and menstrual cycle in unmedicated women with bipolar disorder.
OBJECTIVE
Weight increase is a problem in women with bipolar disorder (BD). Furthermore, there is evidence that both binge eating disorder (BED) and menstrual cycle abnormalities occur more frequently in women with affective disorders than in the general population. We investigated whether there is a clinical link between the two disorders and menstrual cycle.


METHODS
Epidemiological and clinical variables associated with both BD and BED were assessed as well as menstrual cycle influence.


RESULTS
The prevalence of BED in the sample was 28.8%. Menstrual cycle significantly influenced BED in all participants in that BED became worse prior to menses. 80% of the participants noticed regular weight gain prior to menses.


CONCLUSIONS
BED is a common comorbidity in unmedicated subjects with BD, as is overweight. In women with BD menstrual cycle should be taken into consideration, as it can worsen the BD itself and associated comorbidities such as BED and overweight. Alteration in menstrual cycle-associated eating behavior should be routinely assessed in women with BD.
Schoofs
Nikola
N
Klinik für Psychiatrie und Psychotherapie, Charité Campus Mitte, University Medicine Berlin, Germany.
Chen
Frank
F
Bräunig
Peter
P
Stamm
Thomas
T
Krüger
Stephanie
S
D000328:Adult; D056912:Binge-Eating Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D001714:Bipolar Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology* / Q000523:psychology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008597:Menstrual Cycle / Q000523:psychology*; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult