Obesity increases risk of mental disorders throughout life

Date:
May 30, 2023
Source:
Complexity Science Hub Vienna
Summary:
Being obese significantly increases the chances of also developing
mental disorders. This applies to all age groups, with women at
higher risk than men for most diseases.


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FULL STORY ========================================================================== Being obese significantly increases the chances of also developing mental disorders. This applies to all age groups, with women at higher risk than
men for most diseases, as a recent study of the Complexity Science Hub
and the Medical University of Vienna shows. The results were published
in the specialist journal Translational Psychiatry.

"We analyzed a population-wide national registry of inpatient
hospitalizations in Austria from 1997 to 2014 in order to determine the relative risks of comorbidities in obesity and identify statistically significant sex differences," explains Elma Dervic of the Complexity
Science Hub. Consequently, it became evident that an obesity diagnosis significantly enhances the likelihood of a wide range of mental disorders across all age groups - - including depression, nicotine addiction,
psychosis, anxiety, eating and personality disorders. "From a clinical
point of view, these results emphasise the need to raise awareness of psychiatric diagnoses in obese patients and, if necessary, to consult specialists at an early stage of diagnosis," says Michael Leutner of
the Medical University of Vienna.

FIRST DIAGNOSIS: OBESITY "In order to find out which illness typically
appeared prior and subsequently to the obesity diagnosis, we had to
develop a new method," explains Dervic.

This allowed the researchers to determine if there were trends and
typical patterns in disease occurrence.

In case of all co-diagnoses, with the exception of the psychosis spectrum, obesity was in all likelihood the first diagnosis made prior to the manifestation of a psychiatric diagnosis. "Until now, physicians often considered psychopharmacological medications to cause the association
between mental disorders and obesity as well as diabetes. This may be
true for schizophrenia, where we see the opposite time order, but our
data does not support this for depression or other psychiatric diagnoses," explains Alexander Kautzky from Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy
of the Medical University Vienna. However, whether obesity directly
affects mental health or whether early stages of psychiatric disorders
are inadequately recognised is not yet known.

GREATER IMPACT IN WOMEN Surprisingly, the researchers found significant
gender differences for most disorders -- with women showing an increased
risk for all disorders except schizophrenia and nicotine addiction.

While 16.66% of obese men also suffer from nicotine abuse disorder, this
is only the case in up to 8.58% of obese women. The opposite is true
for depression. The rate of diagnosed depressive episodes was almost
three times higher in obese women (13.3% obese; 4.8% non-obese). Obese
men were twice as likely to be affected (6.61% obese; 3.21% non-obese).

COUNTERACT AT A YOUNG AGE At present, obesity is a highly prevalent
disease worldwide and affects more than 670 million people. The fact that
the disease promotes metabolic disorders and serious cardio-metabolic complications (diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and
dyslipidaemia) has already been extensively researched.

Since this study now also shows that obesity often precedes severe mental disorders, the findings underscore its importance as a pleiotropic risk
factor for health problems of all kinds. This is primarily true for
young age groups, where the risk is most pronounced. For this reason,
thorough screening for mental health problems in obese patients is
urgently needed to facilitate prevention or ensure that appropriate
treatment can be given, so the researchers conclude.

* RELATED_TOPICS
o Health_&_Medicine
# Obesity # Mental_Health_Research #
Diseases_and_Conditions # Chronic_Illness
o Mind_&_Brain
# Mental_Health # Psychiatry # Disorders_and_Syndromes
# Depression
* RELATED_TERMS
o Estrogen o Misogyny o Arthritis o Personality_disorder o
Fertility o Psychopathology o Glaucoma o Premature_birth

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by Complexity_Science_Hub_Vienna. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Michael Leutner, Elma Dervic, Luise Bellach, Peter Klimek, Stefan
Thurner, Alexander Kautzky. Obesity as pleiotropic risk state
for metabolic and mental health throughout life. Translational
Psychiatry, 2023; 13 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41398-023-02447-w ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/05/230530125412.htm

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