The Impact of Long Term Illness

Research Notes and Sources: 

Long term illness and mental health

National Institutes of Health website:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/chronic-illness-mental-health

Examples of chronic diseases include autoimmune diseases, diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, hypothyroidism, multiple sclerosis, and pain.

People with chronic illness are at higher risk for mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, stress, brain changes, medication and a  family history…

Moreover, depression and stress disorders can lead to chronic disease – including heart disease, diabetes, stroke, pain, osteoporosis, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Depression symptoms:

• • Persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” mood
  • Feelings of hopelessness or pessimism
  • Feelings of irritability, frustration‚ or restlessness
  • Feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness
  • Loss of interest or pleasure in hobbies and activities
  • Fatigue, lack of energy, or feeling slowed down
  • Difficulty concentrating, remembering, or making decisions
  • Difficulty sleeping, waking too early in the morning, or oversleeping
  • Changes in appetite or unplanned weight changes
  • Physical aches or pains, headaches, cramps, or digestive problems without a clear physical cause that do not go away with treatment

• Thoughts of death or suicide or suicide attempts

Science Direct:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2212657023000491

from the journal Mental Health and Prevention (Dec. 2023)

The study explored link between cholesterol disease, kidney disease, coronary heart disease and asthma and development of mental health problems.  All four diseases proved significantly associated with poor mental health – People with chronic diseases also suffered longer bouts of things like depression than people without such diseases.

Background findings include:

• National Institute of Mental Health reports one in eight people live with a mental health disorder world wide, but the number is much higher in the US.
• Mental health disorders include mood, anxiety, substance abuse, psychotic
• Adults with mental health disorder are more prone to poor academic performance, poor sexual health, self-harming and suicide.
• Chronic illness and mental health disorders interact – sometimes cause, sometimes effect. Mental health disorders also make it harder to get healthy due to poor compliance, medication issues and even compromised immune functioning.
• Cholesterol diseases are linked to anxiety and depression, which in some cases can be caused by the anti-cholesterol drugs
• People with depression diagnosed with a chronic disease in turn have poorer prognosis, increased mortality.

Intersection of mental health and chronic disease

Johns Hopkins University website:

https://publichealth.jhu.edu/2021/the-intersection-of-mental-health-and-chronic-disease

• People with chronic disease are rarely referred to mental health treatment to help cope with the intersection.
• The 37 million Americans have diabetes are two or three times more likely to develop depression than the general population. However, less than half of diabetics with depression get treatment for the depression.
• “It’s a big issue,” says Joseph Gallo, MD, MPH, a professor in Mental Healthwhose research focuses on the intersection of physical and mental health. “There’s ample clinical and epidemiologic evidence that shows the risk for depression is higher among those who suffer from chronic illnesses.”
• Diabetics with depression have a 46% higher risk of death compared to diabetics without depression.
• According to the CDC, 51% of Parkinson’s patients, 42% of cancer patients, 27% of diabetes patients, 23% of cerebrovascular patients, 17% of cardiovascular patients, and 11% of Alzheimer’s patients also have depression.
• In a 2020 issue of The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, Gallo explains that depression can lead to poor self-care, excess disability, and increased mortality. 
• Experts say we must de-stigmatize depression to make it easier for people with chronic disease to also get mental health treatment

Prevalence and correlates of stress, anxiety, and depression in patients with chronic diseases: a cross-sectional study

https://mecp.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s43045-023-00340-2

• In sample of 323 in patients with chronic disease (heart, diabetes, cancer, respiratory), 69% suffered from stress, 51% from anxiety and 59% from depression based on research review.
• Cardio vascular patients had highest rates of stress, anxiety and depression.
• Factors that correlated with risk of a diagnosis of stress, anxiety and depression included age, marital status, social isolation, length of hospital stay, social relationships, number of frequent visits to the hospital/month, and the lifestyle of the patient.

https://www.mentalhealthjournal.org/

Impact of Mental Health on chronic conditions and cost implications- Leveraging data to predict risk

https://www.mentalhealthjournal.org/articles/impact-of-mental-health-on-chronic-conditions-and-cost-implications-leveraging-data-to-predict-risk.html

• Mental health issues increased cost of caring for people with chronic disease by 64% in review of treatment cost of nine different conditions.
• Chronic conditions affect 120 million Americans, many with multiple conditions.

Conclusion:

“Recognition and management of MI is being increasingly recognized as a major unmet need. With greater emphasis on addressing MI by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), there has been increased interest amongst government and commercial health plans to allocate resources to optimize MI care. Several private-equity backed care management companies supported with digital applications have emerged in the past 5 years to partner with RBEs to tackle this problem. Analytics that are developed with validated AI algorithms are critical in not just identifying and managing prevalent MI members but also in predicting the cost and disease implications of MI in chronic conditions.”