By fizkes / Shutterstock
According to data from the World Health Organization, one in eight people around the world is living with a mental illness. This represents approximately one billion people worldwide. And, according to a recent British study, these mental health disorders could be the cause of accelerated biological aging.
According to data from the World Health Organization, one in eight people around the world is living with a mental illness. This represents approximately one billion people worldwide. And, according to a recent British study, these mental health disorders could be the cause of accelerated biological aging.
According to new research from King’s College London, people with a lifetime history of mental disorders such as depression, anxiety and bipolar disorders have blood markers that suggest they are older than their actual age. "It is now possible to predict people’s age from blood metabolites. We found that, on average, those who had a lifetime history of mental illness had a metabolite profile which implied they were older than their actual age. For example, people with bipolar disorder had blood markers indicating that they were around two years older than their chronological age," explains lead researcher, Dr. Julian Mutz, in a statement.
To conduct the study, the researchers examined data on 168 blood metabolites from 110,780 people registered in the UK BIOBANK database. Metabolites, which are compounds produced by metabolism, are biological markers that can be used to diagnose certain diseases or to monitor the progress of a treatment. They combined this data with information about the participants' history of mental illness. They found that people with mental illness had an older metabolite profile than expected for their age. "For example, people with bipolar disorder had blood markers indicating that they were around two years older than their chronological age," said Dr. Mutz.
"Our findings indicate that the bodies of people with mental health problems tend to be older than would be expected for an individual their age. This may not explain all the difference in health and life expectancy between those with mental health problems and the general population, but it does mean that accelerated biological aging may be an important factor," the researcher continues.
According to the study, people with mental health disorders "tend to have shorter lives, and poorer quality health, than the general population." These individuals have an increased likelihood of developing heart disease and diabetes, and these pathologies tend to worsen with age, the research says.
A 2019 study32316-5/fulltext) previously found that people with mental disorders, on average, live shorter lives than others, averaging about 10 years less for men and seven years less for women.
"If we can use these markers to track biological aging, this may change how we monitor the physical health of people with mental illness and how we evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving physical health," concludes Dr. Mutz.
The King's College London study was presented at the European Congress of Psychiatry, held in Paris from March 25 to 28.
