“Hidden Pointers”: Study Finds Physical Health a Better Predictor of Mental Illness than Brain Scans

A new study finds that mental illness may show up its effects on the body and its functions more clearly than brain scans, according to the website “.Science Alertwho called it “hidden pointers”.

In the study, conducted by a team of researchers in Australia, poor physical health may be a better predictor of mental illness than a brain scan would reveal.

The study, published in Journal of the American Medical Associationthe health status of more than 175 thousand people.

Lead author, psychiatrist and neuroscientist Yi Ela Tian explained that people with mental illness had significantly poorer physical health compared to their healthy counterparts, while scans of their brains showed only slight changes.

The findings are not surprising, the researchers said, as previous research has shown that mental illness is associated with poorer physical health and chronic diseases, such as obesity and diabetes, that may be linked to medication side effects or disparities in access to health care.

For example, the researchers say, people with schizophrenia are more than three times more likely to develop diabetes than the general population, and they also have a higher risk of heart disease.

The researchers analyzed dozens of examinations of mental patients and compared them with examinations of healthy people, and it was found that people who suffer from common mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and generalized anxiety disorder suffer from weakness in the functions of the organs of the body, such as the liver, kidneys, and the immune system.

The researchers interpreted the findings that the poor physical health may be a result of the side effects of anti-psychotic medications.

The researchers hope that the findings will help psychiatrists better understand and deal with the impact of mental illness on patients’ physical health.