A new study finds a link between the mind and the body, and the study, which was recently presented at the European Conference of Psychiatry in Paris, revealed that people with a long history of mental and psychological
health conditions have signs indicating that their bodies appear older than their actual digital age, according to
Opportunity “Everyday
Health”.
In the study, researchers assessed biological age by analyzing data on 168 blood markers from nearly 111,000 people in a UK biobank.
Next, the researchers compared the
information between individuals with and without mental
health conditions, such as mood disorders and anxiety disorders.
The researchers found that individuals with a history of mental disorders had a blood marker profile similar to that of people much older than themselves. In other words, their biological age seemed to be older on average than their chronological age, explained lead researcher Julian Motz, a postdoctoral research associate in the Center for Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry at King’s College London in England.
“For example, people with bipolar disorder had blood signs indicating that they were about two years older than their chronological age,” Dr. Motz said during his presentation at the European Psychiatry Congress.
Previous research shows that people with mental health conditions often have shorter lives.
Although most previous studies have been small and had mixed results, there is already some research suggesting that mental illness is linked to accelerated aging.
For example, a study of 811 people diagnosed with depression found that DNA changes were consistent with older biological age when compared to people without major depressive disorder. The results were published in April 2018 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
Research has yielded similar results for bipolar disorder, as has other research for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
However, it is also known that people with mental health conditions are more likely to have early childhood trauma, and to engage in lifestyle habits that are detrimental to health (such as inactivity, smoking, and a poor-quality diet).
But until now, scientists didn’t know whether the accelerated aging was caused by the mental disorders themselves or whether it was a secondary result of symptoms that often come with having one of these disorders, including obesity and diabetes.
The main takeaway from all of this research is that mental disorders affect not just the mind or the brain, but the whole body. As such, treatment of mental health conditions must include concern for physical health as well.
2023-05-23 07:02:11
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