A study by King’s College London, presented at the most recent edition of the scientific congress European Congress of Psychiatry, pointed out that people with mental illnesses physically age faster. According to the article, this happens because mental disorders increase the biological markers of aging.
One theory is that people with mental illnesses generally have more age-related disorders and have shorter life expectancies, as well as a tendency to develop diabetes and heart problems. According to the authors, the effect is more noticeable in the male audience.
The study in question had data from 110,780 patients and the analysis of 168 different blood metabolites that act as age markers. With this, it was possible to notice that people with a history of mental illness had profiles of biological metabolites that indicated they were older than they really were.
The scientists involved found that, on average, people with bipolar disorder had blood markers indicating they were about 2 years older than their chronological age.
From the point of view of the authors themselves, understanding the mechanisms underlying accelerated biological aging may be crucial for the development of prevention and personalized treatments to deal with these mental illnesses.
“If we can use these markers to track biological aging, it could change how we monitor the physical health of people with mental illnesses and how we evaluate the effectiveness of interventions aimed at improving physical health,” the researchers point out.
Source: EurekAlert!; Via: IFL Science
