NEW DELHI
According to a study that examined the connections between the brain, body, and lifestyle, poor organ health causes changes in the brain that either induce or exacerbate depression or anxiety. Lead author Ye Ella Tian, a research fellow at The University of Melbourne in Australia, said, By looking at brain imaging and clinical data of over 18,000 people, we were able to establish for the first time multiple pathways involving the brain as a mediating factor and through which poor physical health of body organ systems may lead to poor mental health.
The biological systems the researchers looked at included immunity and metabolism as well as organs including the liver, heart, and lungs.
UK Biobank provided the data for their investigation, which was published in the journal Nature Mental Health. More than 10,000 of the more than 18,000 participants in the study stated they had received a diagnosis of a mental illness, such as bipolar disorder, anxiety, or depression. We discovered that lower organ health was significantly associated with higher depressive (and anxiety) symptoms for each of the seven organ systems (analysed),” the authors reported.
The musculoskeletal and immunological systems, in particular, “showed a strong mediating effect on organs that had strong direct effects on mental health outcomes,” according to their findings, despite the fact that the degree to which the brain mediates physical-mental health across organ systems varied.
Along with examining education and socioeconomic position, the team also looked at lifestyle factors like food, exercise, and alcohol consumption, as well as how they affect the physical body and brain and, ultimately, mental health. The scientists concluded, We demonstrated how certain lifestyle factors, including physical activity, sleep, and diet, affect the physiological function of multiple organ and brain systems and influence mental health.
They claimed that most people’s mental health would improve if they adopted actions based on these factors. The findings of the study are significant because, despite the fact that healthcare professionals are aware of the interactions between body systems and organs, these relationships are rarely documented in scientific research, according to the study’s author James Cole of University College London.
Therefore, these results are interesting since the study emphasises the need of combining measurements from several body areas, according to Cole.
Our research offers a comprehensive description of the body, mind, and lifestyle,” Tian stated.
