Mental Health Problems Increase Cardiovascular Risks

People with mental health problems are “significantly” more likely to have stroke or heart disease, according to a study unveiled at a recent Canadian Cardiovascular Congress.

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There are at least three possible explanations for the links.

First, people with mental health disorders can engage in risky behaviors: alcohol and tobacco abuse, physical inactivity and unhealthy diets. In Canada, 40 to 90 percent of those with mental illness use tobacco, while only 20 percent of the general Canadian population do so.

Then there is the fact that psychiatric drugs can prompt weight gain and impede the breakdown of fats and sugars, leading to obesity, high cholesterol and diabetes. This link is increasingly well documented. Other recent papers detailing an association between psychiatric medications and weight gain have appeared in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry (anti-psychotics), the Journal of the American Medical Association Psychiatry (anti-depressants), and the Harvard Review of Psychiatry (bipolar disorder drugs).

Finally, the mentally ill can be plagued by communication issues on both sides of the psychiatrist’s couch, Goldie’s report indicated. The mentally ill can experience great difficulty articulating their own needs. But a lingering stigma, even in the professional community, can also apparently exacerbate communication problems. Patients with mental health disorders receive fewer cardiovascular disease risk-reducing drug therapies from their doctors. They also undergo fewer necessary surgical procedures, such as coronary bypass repair.

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http://www.biosciencetechnology.com/articles/2014/11/mental-health-problems-increase-cardiovascular-disease-risk