lar disorder exhibit much more irritability, unstable mood, and sleep disturbances than children with ADHD. There are many theories as to what may cause COBPD. Alan S. Brown, MD, and colleagues have proposed that there may be a relationship between prenatal malnutrition and COBPD. Brown and his colleagues studied hospitalization records of Dutch psychiatric patients who were exposed inutero to the harsh climate and extreme food shortage of the 1944 Dutch winter. By looking at hospital records of people exposed to this environment during the first trimester, second trimester, third trimester and a control group (who were not exposed at all), Brown and his colleagues found that men and women exposed inutero to famine and harsh climate during the second and third trimester were more likely to develop a bipolar disorder than those exposed during the first trimester or not exposed at all. Also, the incidence for unipolar disorder (a mood disorder in which a person experiences only depressive episodes) was more significant than for bipolar disorder (Brown AS, Susser ES, Lin SP et al. 1995) in those exposed during the first trimester or not exposed at all. According to more recent studies, one of the main factors in establishing a diagnosis of COBPD is family history. This means that there is a significant link between COBPD and genetics. Dr. Richard Todd and his colleagues at Washington University in St. Louis found increased rates of COBPD when family histories reveal a mood disorder and/or alcoholism on both the maternal and paternal sides. By transferring information from questionnaires into a database, it was found that over 80 percent of children diagnosed with COBPD had this bilineal transmission (Todd et al. 1997). Childhood-Onset Bipolar Disorder is a somewhat of a new concept. The DSM-IV is not scheduled for revision in the near future, but there have been some guidelines set that experts can use to make recognition of COBPD a bit ea...
