Autoimmune conditions may increase risk of mental health issues: Study

Having an autoimmune condition, in which the body`s immune system mistakenly attacks and damages healthy tissues and organs, could be linked to a near doubling of risk of experiencing persistent mental health issues, a study has found.

Researchers from The University of Edinburgh, UK, said that a persistent inflammation, which is a hallmark of autoimmune disorders, could explain the risks.

Women were found to be at a higher mental health risk, compared to men having the same conditions, according to the study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ) Mental Health.

The study looked at six autoimmune disorders that included rheumatoid arthritis (affects joints), inflammatory bowel disease and lupus, which can damage kidneys and brain among other organs.

The researchers said that inflammation is linked to mental ill-health. However, many studies have looked at small sample sizes, limiting their validity.

They analysed data of 15.6 lakh people from a UK dataset, of which 37,808 reported autoimmune conditions.

“Overall, the risk of affective disorders among people living with autoimmune conditions was nearly twice that of the general population,” the authors wrote.

Further, those with autoimmune conditions were more likely to be women, and at a higher chance that their parents were diagnosed with a mood disorder — such as depression, anxiety or bipolar — at least once in life.

A diagnosis of mood disorder was found to be prevalent among 29 per cent of the participants affected by an autoimmune condition, compared to the general population (18 per cent).

Similarly, depression and anxiety were prevalent among 25.5 per cent and 21 per cent of the autoimmune-affected, compared to 15 per cent and 12.5 per cent in the general population, the researchers found.

Further, while overall prevalence of bipolar disorder was much lower, it was found to be significantly higher among those having an autoimmune disorder — about one per cent, compared to 0.5 per cent of those not having the disorder.

Mood disorders were also seen to be significantly and consistently higher among women (32 per cent), compared to men (21 per cent) having the same health conditions.

The authors cautioned that being an observational study, the results do not allow to establish a cause-and-effect link.

However, “this analysis of a large national dataset suggests that chronic exposure to systemic inflammation may be linked to a greater risk for affective (mood) disorder”, the team said.

The `Our Future Health` dataset was used for the study. The participants responded to questionnaires with personal, social, health and lifestyle information upon enrollment to the study.

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