Obesity affects more than one billion people worldwide (including 39 million children) according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and is associated with many other diseases. Now a new study has revealed that obese people of any age also have a significantly higher risk of developing mental disorders, including depression, anxiety, psychosis, nicotine addiction, eating and personality disorders, among others.
The research has been carried out by scientists from the Medical University of Vienna and Complexity Science Hub Vienna and has also shown that women are more likely than men to suffer from most of these diseases. The researchers analyzed data on patients admitted to hospitals in Austria from 1997 to 2014 to determine the association between a hospital diagnosis of obesity and mental disorders, as well as to identify statistically significant gender differences.
The results have been published in Translational Psychiatry and reveal that a diagnosis of obesity significantly increases the probability of suffering a wide variety of mental disorders in all age groups. “From a clinical point of view, these results emphasize the need to raise awareness about psychiatric diagnoses in obese patients and, if necessary, consult specialists at an early stage of diagnosis,” said Michael Leutner, from the Department of Internal Medicine. II at the Medical University of Vienna and leader of the study.
Diagnosis of obesity preceded psychiatric disorder
The authors of the study developed a new method that “allowed them to determine if there are typical trends and patterns in the appearance of diseases”, with the aim of finding out which disease “normally appeared before and after the diagnosis of obesity”, explained Elma Dervic of the Complexity Science Hub and co-senior author, adding: “For all co-diagnoses, with the exception of psychosis spectrum, obesity was most likely the first diagnosis made before the manifestation of a psychiatric diagnosis.” .
The rate of diagnosed depressive episodes was almost three times higher in obese women (13.3% obese vs. 4.8% non-obese)
Alexander Kautzky, from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at MedUni Vienna and first author, stressed that “until now, physicians assumed that psychopharmacological drugs were the cause of the link between mental disorders and obesity and diabetes. This may be true for schizophrenia, where we see the reverse chronological order, but our data do not support it for depression or other psychiatric diagnoses.” It is not yet known, however, whether obesity directly influences mental health or whether the early stages of psychiatric disorders are not correctly identified.
Increased risk of psychiatric problems in obese women
Women showed a higher risk than men of developing all disorders except schizophrenia and nicotine addiction. For example, 16.66% of obese men are also addicted to nicotine, but only 8.58% of obese women. In the case of depression, the rate of diagnosed depressive episodes was almost three times higher in obese women (13.3% obese vs. 4.8% in non-obese), while obese men were affected twice as often. frequency than those with normal weight (6.61% obese; 3.21% non-obese).
Based on the study findings indicating that obesity often precedes the diagnosis of serious mental disorders, researchers have revealed that it is a major risk factor for health problems in children and young people and believe that further investigation is urgently needed. comprehensive evaluations of mental health problems in obese patients to prevent their occurrence or ensure that they receive appropriate treatment as soon as possible.
.
