Obesity Increases Mental Disorders Risk

Obesity increases the risk of getting mental illnesses. This applies to all age groups, with women being more vulnerable to most diseases than males, according to a recent study by the Medical University of Vienna and the Complexity Science Hub Vienna. The findings were published in Translational Psychiatry.

The research team examined a population-based dataset of all inpatient hospitalizations in Austria from 1997 to 2014 to estimate the relative risks of concurrent disorders in obesity and to discover statistically significant gender differences. As a result, it became clear that an obesity diagnosis considerably increases the likelihood of a wide range of mental problems in people of all ages, including depression, nicotine addiction, psychosis, anxiety, eating and personality disorders.

“From a clinical point of view, these results emphasize the need to raise awareness of psychiatric diagnoses in obese patients and, if necessary, to consult specialists at an early stage of diagnosis,” explains study leader Michael Leutner from the Department of Internal Medicine II at MedUni Vienna.

Obesity as the First Diagnosis

“In order to find out which illness typically appeared prior and subsequently to the obesity diagnosis, we had to develop a new method. This allowed us to determine whether there are trends and typical patterns in the occurrence of diseases,” explains co-first author Elma Dervic from the Complexity Science Hub. “In case of all co-diagnoses, with the exception of the psychosis spectrum, obesity was in all likelihood the first diagnosis made prior to the manifestation of a psychiatric diagnosis. ”

Until recently, doctors frequently considered that psychopharmacological medicines were to blame for the relationship between mental illnesses and diabetes.

“This may be true for schizophrenia, where we see the reverse chronological order, but our data does not support this for depression or other psychiatric diagnoses,” explains first author Alexander Kautzky from the Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy at MedUni Vienna. However, whether obesity directly affects mental health or whether early stages of psychiatric disorders are inadequately recognized is not yet known.

Women are More Affected
Surprisingly, the researchers discovered substantial gender differences in the majority of diseases, with women exhibiting an elevated risk for all but schizophrenia and nicotine addiction. While 16.66% of all obese males are addicted to nicotine, this is only true for up to 8.58% of obese women.

In the case of depression, the opposite is true. Obese women had nearly three times the rate of diagnosed depressive episodes (13.3% obese vs. 4.8% non-obese). Obese men were impacted twice as commonly as non-obese males (6.61% obese vs. 3.21% non-obese).

Screening for Mental Health Issues is Required

Obesity affects around 670 million people globally. It has already been thoroughly investigated that the condition promotes metabolic abnormalities and significant cardio-metabolic consequences (diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and dyslipidemia).

Obesity, according to the current study, frequently precedes severe mental issues, emphasizing its significance as a risk factor for all children’s health problems. This is especially true for younger age groups, when the risk is greatest. As a result, the researchers suggest that extensive screening for mental health disorders in obese patients is urgently needed to aid prevention or ensure appropriate treatment can be provided.

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