This is the third in a series of posts looking at a recent research study of mental disorders and risk for later medical illnesses.
In this graph I has summarized data from the manuscript below on mental disorders associated with later risk of diabetes mellitus.
Two eating disorders, bulimia nervosa and binge eating disorder were both associated with a tripling of the rate for a later diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Both of these eating disorders are linked to overweight and obesity possibly explaining the later association with diabetes.
Mood disorders and anxiety disorders panic disorder and agoraphobia also were associated with a later diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. One concern with this finding is the potential for drugs used for mood and anxiety disorders to increase weight.
I will finish out this series in the next post on mental disorders linked to later chronic paid disorder.
Follow the author on Twitter WRY999
Scott KM, Lim C, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Bruffaerts R, Caldas-de-Almeida JM, Florescu S, de Girolamo G, Hu C, de Jonge P, Kawakami N, Medina-Mora ME, Moskalewicz J, Navarro-Mateu F, O'Neill S, Piazza M, Posada-Villa J, Torres Y, & Kessler RC (2015). Association of Mental Disorders With Subsequent Chronic Physical Conditions: World Mental Health Surveys From 17 Countries. JAMA psychiatry, 1-9 PMID: 26719969
An important recent manuscript published in JAMA Psychiatry looked at medical illnesses rates following diagnosis of a brain (mental) disorder.
This very large international study examined over 47,000 subjects followed between 2001 and 2011.
Baseline psychiatric assessment was completed using the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. Physical illness was assessed using a self-report of physician's diagnosis.
The manuscript is not free but I was able to obtain a professional courtesy copy of the manuscript from the lead author.
The study found that a diagnosis of a mental disorder increased rates for a variety of later physical conditions.
I have put together a graph of the mental disorders associated with higher rates of later stroke (above).
Bulimia nervosa showed a three fold increase in later stroke. I am not aware of this association previously being noted. Alcohol and drug use disorders are known to increase stroke risk and this was found in the study lending face validity support.
Additional mental disorders associated with later stroke were bipolar disorder and panic/agoraphobia.
Bipolar disorder has been linked to higher risk of hypertension and smoking.
The implications of these findings include need for enhanced medical illness screening and risk factor reduction in those with a mental disorder diagnosis.
I will look at some the other individual medical conditions in future posts.
Follow the author on Twitter WRY999Scott KM, Lim C, Al-Hamzawi A, Alonso J, Bruffaerts R, Caldas-de-Almeida JM, Florescu S, de Girolamo G, Hu C, de Jonge P, Kawakami N, Medina-Mora ME, Moskalewicz J, Navarro-Mateu F, O'Neill S, Piazza M, Posada-Villa J, Torres Y, & Kessler RC (2015). Association of Mental Disorders With Subsequent Chronic Physical Conditions: World Mental Health Surveys From 17 Countries. JAMA psychiatry, 1-9 PMID: 26719969
