Living in terror: Swedish research looks at the connection between health anxiety and premature demise

People who have an excessive dread of catastrophic sickness are likely to die earlier than people who aren't very alert about health issues, according to a big Swedish study that found this paradox.

Illness anxiety disorder, formerly known as hypochondriasis, is a rare disorder with symptoms that go beyond ordinary health concerns. Despite routine lab testing and physical examinations, people with the illness are unable to overcome their concerns. Some people might frequently switch doctors. Some could decide not to get medical attention.

Follow the breaking news on Facebook's HT Channel. Sign up now

A large number of us have minor hypochondria. Dr. Jonathan E. Alpert of the Montefiore Medical Center in New York stated, "But there are also people on the other extreme of the spectrum who live in a perpetual state of worry, suffering, and rumination about having a serious illness."

Taking the disorder seriously and treating it is vital because people with the disorder are suffering, according to Alpert, who was not part of the new study. Cognitive behavioral therapy, relaxation methods, education, and occasionally antidepressant prescription are all part of the treatment process.

The diagnosis raises a person's risk of dying from both natural and artificial causes, including suicide, the researchers discovered. The authors speculated that part of the discrepancy might be explained by chronic stress and its effects on the body.

According to David Mataix-Cols of the Swedish Karolinska Institute, who conducted the study, it filled "a clear gap in the literature," which was published on Wednesday in JAMA Psychiatry.

investigation. "We got lucky," he said, adding that data on thousands of individuals over a 24-year period, from 1997 to 2020, could be analyzed because hypochondriasis has its own code in the Swedish medical classification system.

Previous studies had indicated that individuals with the illness may have a lower suicide risk, but "our gut, based on clinical experience, was that this would be incorrect,” the authors wrote. Mataix

Cols said. Individuals with the diagnosis had a four-fold increased risk of suicide death in the research.

They compared 4,100 individuals with hypochondriasis diagnoses to 41,000 individuals who shared their age, sex, and county of residence. They employed a metric known as person years, which reflects the quantity of individuals and the duration of their tracking.

Individuals with hypochondriasis had greater overall death rates (8.5 versus 5.5 per 1,000 person years). Individuals suffering from the illness passed away at a mean age of 70 as opposed to 75. Their chance of dying as a result of

respiratory and circulatory disorders were more common. Cancer was an exception, with a roughly equal chance of mortality.

Alpert, who chairs the research council of the American Psychiatric Association, stated that it is important to use caution when referring a patient who is very nervous to mental health specialists. Because they believe they are being accused of fabricating symptoms, patients may become angry.

According to Alpert, "it takes a great deal of respect and sensitivity to convey to patients that this is a kind of condition and that it has a name." "And happily, there are effective treatments available."

تعديل المقال