Mental illnesses, such as anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder, are becoming more and more familiar to people. They not only cause great pain and suffering to individuals, but also a severe disease burden globally.
Studies have found that cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death in people with mental illness. How are mental health and physical health related? What is the relationship between the two diseases? A review published in BioMedical Engineering OnLine in March found the explanation.
Image source: BioMedical Engineering OnLine official website
Research team from the University of South Australia found that:Mental illness not only disrupts the mind, but also disrupts cardiovascular health through fluctuations in blood pressure and heart rate.
This review reviewed 12 studies of people with psychiatric disorders such as anxiety, depression, and panic disorder (none of whom had high blood pressure), analyzing psychiatric disorders and blood pressure variability ( blood pressure variability, BPV).
The results found that psychiatric disorders were significantly associated with increased blood pressure variability (greater blood pressure fluctuations) in younger and middle-aged adults, but this association was unclear in older There are more studies on older adults.
This review thus provides some support for the hypothesis that people with psychiatric disorders tend to have greater blood pressure fluctuations, which can lead to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and target organ damage.
The review also noted that psychiatric disorders can lead to worsening of autonomic function (increased blood pressure variability, decreased heart rate variability), which makes the bodies of people with psychiatric disorders less able to cope with the daytime stress, which in turn exacerbates the negative effects of stress on the body.
It also causes blood pressure not to drop sufficiently at night when the heart should be rested. In addition, problems such as sleep disturbances that accompany mental illness can also affect the body’s rest and recovery at night.
In short, mental health affects not only mental state, but also physical health through various regulatory mechanisms of the body. Fortunately, we can detect and treat it early to reduce the risk.
We call on everyone to pay more attention to “health”, not only to pay attention to physical discomfort, but also to pay more attention to their own psychological abnormalities, to listen to the inner “voice”, and if necessary, Seek medical attention as soon as possible.
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