Schizophrenia sufferers more likely to develop chronic diseases

In a new study, published in the most recent edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine, researchers discovered that both men and women who have schizophrenia are significantly more likely to have one or more of 46 common chronic health conditions than individuals without mental illness.

Caroline Carney Doebbeling, associate professor of psychiatry and medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a research scientist at the Regenstrief Institute in the US, assessed inpatient and outpatient insurance claims data from more than 700,000 adults between the ages of 18 and 64.

Her research revealed that schizophrenics suffered from a greater number of conditions spanning several disease categories including cardiovascular, pulmonary, neurological and endocrine diseases than those without mental health problems.

The results also showed that a third of the younger sufferers (the group which had an average age of 40-years-old) already had three or more chronic physical health conditions needing a physician's care.

"This work highlights the need for integrated medical and psychiatric care and the long-term deleterious effects on physical health of living with chronic mental illness," said Dr. Carney Doebbeling.

"Both physical and mental health practitioners should have a heightened awareness of the significant medical morbidity faced by persons with chronic mental illness."

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