Major depressive disorder has just been identified as the genetic cause of 20 distinct illnesses. Knowledge of this link should allow better overall management of depressive patients.
Depression and asthma, depression and coronary heart disease, depression and gastroenteritis … The link between many diseases and depression had already been observed. A study by the Australian Center for Precision Health published in Molecular Psychiatry puts an end to the riddle of the chicken and the egg by showing that depression is the cause of these other ailments, and not the other way around. Until now, investigations into this topic have been complicated by the existence of confounding factors suggesting that certain physical states are thought to cause depression.
20 distinct diseases
Major depressive disorder has been identified as the genetic cause of 20 distinct illnesses causing respiratory, heart, digestive and urinary problems. “People with serious mental illnesses such as depression have much higher rates of physical illness than the general population,” said Anwar Mulugeta, one of the researchers at the Australian center who conducted the study.
Genetic data to explore causal associations
This work used for the first time to screen the causal link between depression and various diseases a method that uses genetic data to explore causal associations between a risk factor and a range of diseases. Researchers assessed data from 337,536 UK Biobank participants to confirm the range of illnesses affected by depression.
“Importantly, this research indicates that a person diagnosed with depression should also be screened for a defined set of possible comorbidities, thus allowing for better clinical management,” Anwar Mulugeta pointed out.
“Look at the patient as a whole”
“Today, it is estimated that almost half of the population will suffer from a mental health problem during their lifetime. Understanding the links between depression and other illnesses is essential to ensuring that these people have the support they need. they need, the more we can look at the whole patient, the better the results will be,” confirmed Elina Hypponen, director of the Australian Center for Precision Health.
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