A research team conducted a study with people who participated in Vasloppet, the largest long-distance ski race in the world held in Sweden. The study shows that the participants have less chance of suffering from bipolar disorder than other human beings. However, when analyzing the race results, it was discovered that high-performing female skiers were more likely to develop bipolar disorder than their slower counterparts. The study, which was published in the International Journal of Bipolar Disorders, found that this association is only present in women and not men.
Bipolar disorder is a tricky illness. The defining characteristics are extreme mood swings that range from very depressed to excessively active manic episodes. It’s estimated that around 2-4% of the population suffers from it. The condition usually starts with a few depressive episodes, but an episode of mania or hypomania later replaces these. Mania is a condition where somebody demonstrates an exaggerated activity level, energy, mood, or behavior. Mania is defined by invincibility, insomnia, racing thoughts and ideas, rapid talking, and holding false beliefs or perceptions.
Recent studies have found that people with bipolar disorder, on average, die around ten years sooner than the average person. Some people think bipolar depression can cause an increased risk of suicide & poor cardiovascular health. Many researchers believe exercise may help prevent bipolar disorder because it can affect a person’s energy levels.
A study conducted in Sweden discovered that those with the lowest fitness levels were more inclined to develop bipolar disorder. But does leading an active lifestyle to have any benefits?
“Earlier studies have shown that physical activity could substantially prevent mental health problems,” said study author Martina Svensson. We know that being physically active lowers the risk of developing depression and anxiety disorders by 50% and 60%, respectively. We wanted to see if physical activity could prevent bipolar disorder.
Svensson explains that in 2013, their research team began a project focused on how physical activity affected brain disorders. As Svensson’s prior area of expertise was in molecular biomedicine, initially, the research project focused on determining if there were any benefits to physical activity at a cellular level for animals with Alzheimer’s disease or brain damage.
With already two completed races under his belt, Deierborg contacted Ulf Hållmarker (the former chief physician of the Vasaloppet ski race) and Stefan James. James had originally set up the entire Vasaloppet registry to collect data on this group and compare it to Sweden’s less active population. This collaboration brought an epidemiological perspective to the experimental research.
From 1989 to 2010, a total of 197,685 people participated in the Vasloppet ski race in Sweden. Svensson and her colleagues analyzed the data collected from these participants. To make an accurate comparison, the data collected from skiers were compared with those collected from non-skiers who were equal in age and region of residency. A total of 395,369 people were included in the study.
People who participate in this race have been observed to smoke less, be more physically active during their leisure time, and have healthier diets than the general population. They also have a lower mortality rate. The researchers only compared individuals in good health, those who could participate, and persons without severe health conditions. They monitored how long it took the skiers to finish the race. Data on study participants’ psychiatric and other health conditions were gathered from the Swedish National Patient Registry.
The findings indicated a much higher number of people with bipolar disorder in the non-skiing group than in the skiing group. “The study found that both genders who took part in skiing had fewer instances of developing bipolar disorder. Even if all participants who developed any type of mental disorder within five years were removed from the research, the results would still remain accurate,” said the researcher’s report. Svensson stated that the study found that people with physically active lifestyles had a 50% lower risk of suffering from bipolar disorder than the general population.
In addition, the researchers also studied if there was a correlation between the likelihood of developing bipolar disorder and how long it took skiers to finish the race. They discovered no increased risk of bipolar disorder in men based on how fast they skied. However, the study showed that women who finished the race more quickly had a higher chance of developing bipolar disorder than those who were slower skiers.
We were surprised to discover that women who performed well physically had almost double the risk of developing bipolar disorder than lower-performing women. In men, the race’s finishing time didn’t significantly impact the risk of bipolar disorder. So it seems like being physically active benefits both sexes, even though optimal levels may differ between genders.
However, the study has some limitations, as all research does. For example, it didn’t compare the two groups on every factor – skiers smoked less and had healthier diets than non-skiers. Furthermore, the study did not consider any physical activity outside of ski racing, and there was no way to manage participants’ family compositions or genetic factors.
Svensson clarified that the study doesn’t consider diet and other lifestyle habits that could be linked to an active lifestyle. Additionally, the study didn’t examine why faster skiing is related to an increased risk of bipolar disorder than slower skiers among women. Hence, it is crucial to research how different intensities of exercise impact men’s and women’s bipolar disorder risk. For example, study designs would let us conclude the relationship between physical activity and bipolar disorder.
“Genetics, psychological factors, and personality traits likely affect exercise behaviors and the onset of bipolar disorder, but we could not study those confounding variables in our cohort. Keep in mind that this is an epidemiological study; we can find exciting associations here, but causation cannot be legitimately backed up.
Svensson said our research is innovative due to its enormous scope, making it the most expansive population-based study conducted thus far. Even though there were some restrictions, the study still managed to provide a better understanding of how physical activity is linked to bipolar disorder. This recently collected data confirms and builds upon earlier studies with shorter durations of follow-up time that there is a lasting association between bipolar disorder and leading an active lifestyle in both men and women. Furthermore, our study demonstrates that this correlation exists specifically in women – something which has not been reported previously.
The researcher announced that they are in the process of setting up an updated version of their cohort. The new and improved study population will be much larger, with follow-up times stretching up to 36 years after completing the ski race. “The new cohort will involve different types of physical activity, like biking and running. We’ll also have more socioeconomics, fitness level, and cognitive capability data. The findings from the previous cohort were great, but we want to improve upon them by considering these new factors.”
