Study reveals obesity as a precursor to mental disorders across all ages
A recent study conducted by the Medical University of Vienna in collaboration with the Complexity Science Hub Vienna has uncovered that individuals suffering from obesity face an elevated risk of developing various mental disorders across all age groups. Interestingly, the study reveals that women are more susceptible than men to most of these disorders. The research findings were published in Translational Psychiatry, a renowned scientific journal.
The researchers meticulously analysed a comprehensive dataset, encompassing all inpatient hospitalisations in Austria between 1997 and 2014. The aim was to ascertain the relative risks of coexisting diseases in individuals with obesity and to pinpoint any statistically significant variations between genders. The data illustrated that an obesity diagnosis markedly heightens the likelihood of developing an array of mental disorders, including depression, nicotine addiction, psychosis, anxiety, eating disorders, and personality disorders.
Michael Leutner, who headed the study and is part of the Department of Internal Medicine II at MedUni Vienna, asserted, “The findings highlight the imperative need for increased vigilance toward psychiatric diagnoses in patients with obesity and engaging specialists early on if necessary.”
Elma Dervic, the co-first author of the study from the Complexity Science Hub, expounded on the innovative approach adopted to discern which illness typically manifested before or after an obesity diagnosis. “This novel method enabled us to identify trends and common patterns in the onset of diseases,” Dervic explained. The study revealed that, with the exception of disorders in the psychosis spectrum, obesity was likely to be diagnosed before the emergence of any psychiatric condition.
Contrary to a widely-held belief among physicians that psychopharmacological medications were responsible for the connection between mental disorders and obesity, the study suggests otherwise. “While this might hold true for schizophrenia, our data does not corroborate this for depression or other mental disorders,” elucidated Alexander Kautzky, the first author from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at MedUni Vienna. However, it remains uncertain whether obesity directly impacts mental health or if early stages of psychiatric disorders are frequently overlooked.
Notably, the study found women to be more predisposed to nearly all mental disorders, except for schizophrenia and nicotine addiction. Approximately 16.66% of men with obesity were found to have nicotine addiction compared to just 8.58% of women with obesity. Conversely, the rate of diagnosed depression was nearly threefold higher in women with obesity (13.3% in women with obesity compared to 4.8% in women who did not have obesity) than in men with obesity (6.61% in men with obesity compared to 3.21% in men who did not have obesity).
With over 670 million individuals affected by obesity globally, it is well-established that obesity contributes to metabolic disorders and severe cardio-metabolic complications such as diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and dyslipidemia. The revelation that obesity is frequently a precursor to serious mental disorders underscores its significance as a health risk factor, particularly for younger populations where the risk is most pronounced.
Consequently, the researchers stress the urgency for comprehensive mental health screening amongst patients with obesity to enable timely preventive measures or the provision of appropriate treatment.