乌鸦传媒

After months of silence from his office about his absence from Congress, the Mayo Clinic has announced that Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., (D-Ill.) is being treated at the facility for bipolar disorder.

The Congressman is "responding well to the treatment and regaining his strength," according to a release from the clinic's Rochester, Minn., center.

Jackson was diagnosed with Bipolar II disorder, which is a less severe form than Bipolar I and largely treatable, according to the press release.

Although the center said the condition was "most likely caused by a complex set of genetic and environmental factors," the release mentioned that Jackson had gastric surgery -- specifically, a duodenal switch -- at the clinic in 2004. The procedure "can change how the body absorbs food, liquids, vitamins, nutrients, and medications," according to the statement.

And Jackson's wife Sandi told the Chicago Sun-Times that the disorder might have had something to do with his surgery.

However, bariatric surgery experts contacted by 乌鸦传媒 said any connection between the two conditions is highly unlikely. "I see no relation between the two, certainly not a causal relationship," Richard Stahl, MD, of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in an email.

Christine Ren-Fielding, MD, a gastric surgeon at New York University Langone Medical Center, said she has "never heard of such a thing."

While there are no direct correlations between gastric surgery and bipolar disorder, Mitchell Roslin, MD, a bariatric surgeon at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan, said the procedure and its resulting weight loss could "unmask" underlying disease.

A patient who is depressed may turn to antidepressants, of which a hallmark side effect is weight gain, Roslin said. Once patients start to lose pounds after surgery, they may "think they can conquer the world" -- setting the stage for slight manic episodes.

"For those who have a bipolar tendency, rapid weight loss could push them toward the manic side of the disease," he said.

According to reports, Jackson went on medical leave on June 10 without explanation, and his staff offered few clues to his absence except that he was being treated for exhaustion. In July, his team said in a statement that he was being treated for a mood disorder.

Jackson collapsed in his home days before being admitted to the hospital, Sandi Jackson told the Sun-Times. She denied rumors that her husband had attempted suicide.

The Mayo Clinic press release noted that Jackson asked the hospital to distribute information on his condition on his behalf.

The Congressman has been under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over allegations of making inappropriate donations to former Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich in order to win the Senate seat vacated by President Obama. A top Jackson aide also was arrested on charges of fraud around the time Jackson's medical leave began.

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