2023-08-02 08:04:32
Studies have shown that having an autoimmune disease can lead to neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression and anxiety.
Autoimmune diseases are diseases caused by the immune system mistaking and attacking its own organs, tissues, and cells as foreign substances, such as rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, inflammatory bowel disease, type 1 diabetes, psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, and celiac disease. Diseases, etc., belong to this category.
A study by Dr. Melanie Sloan of the Department of Public Health and Primary Care at Cambridge University Medical School in England conducted a study on 1,853 patients with autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus. day reported.
The research team asked them if they had neuropsychiatric symptoms such as depression, anxiety, hallucinations, and fatigue.
As a result, 55% were depressed, 57% were anxious, 70% were cognitively impaired, and 70% were severely fatigued.
The research team asked regarding 300 people, including rheumatologists, psychiatrists, and neurologists, for their opinions. This far exceeded the doctors’ expectations, and the doctors were also surprised.
In particular, 47% of lupus patients answered that they had suicidal thoughts. This is more than three times the 15% doctors expected.
Lupus is an autoimmune disease in which the immune system attacks tissues and organs almost throughout the body. Because it attacks not only the skin but also almost all parts of the body, such as joints and kidneys, very diverse symptoms appear.
Patients showed a reluctance to talk regarding their mental health. Because they are concerned regarding social stigma.
More than half of the patients either did not tell their doctor regarding their psychoneurotic symptoms or were hesitant to tell them, and few doctors asked regarding their mental health, it was found.
This suggests that the number of autoimmune patients with psychoneurotic symptoms may be much higher than those investigated this time, the research team pointed out.
The research team emphasized that patients with autoimmune diseases need special care so that they can comfortably consult with a doctor and receive treatment for their neuropsychiatric symptoms that they are reluctant to reveal.
The results of this study were published in the latest issue of ‘Rheumatology Internal Medicine’, a journal of the British Society of Rheumatology.
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