Are you worried about getting sick after seeing the news? Research reminds: People with "hypochondriasis" have an 84% higher risk of death! Is it related to the impact of stress and anxiety on endocrine system?
Are you worried about getting sick after seeing the reports? Study: Hypochondriasis 84% higher risk of death
Hypochondriasis, also known as “health anxiety disorder”, refers to excessive anxiety about diseases. Patients will be excessively anxious about their own diseases, constantly worrying about whether they are sick, and focusing on possible symptoms of the body. Even if the patient has a normal medical examination or a doctor’s diagnosis, he or she still believes that he or she is suffering from some serious disease that affects normal life and social activities.
A recent study in Sweden pointed out that the all-cause mortality rate of patients with hypochondriasis was 84% higher than that of those without hypochondriasis. The prevalence of hypochondriasis in adults may be underestimated, and more active screening and treatment are needed. This study used Swedish adult health register data to analyze the two major groups of people with and without hypochondriasis from 1997 to 2020. The results showed that people with hypochondriasis had a higher risk of natural and unnatural death than those without hypochondriasis, and the risk of natural death was higher for those without hypochondriasis. Risks of death include a higher chance of cancer, neurological, circulatory, and respiratory diseases than unnatural death.
Excessive stress overwhelms endocrine system? Patients with hypochondriasis have higher mortality rates
Research data shows that most people suffering from anxiety disorders have been diagnosed with at least one other psychosomatic disorder, mainly generalized anxiety disorder and depression. The risk of comorbidities related to generalized anxiety disorder is as high as 86%. In addition, the most common unnatural cause of death among patients with anxiety disorders is suicide, and their risk of suicide is more than four times that of the group without anxiety disorders (HR, 4.14).
Hypochondriasis is an excessive anxiety about physical and mental health. The authors of the study pointed out that people with hypochondriasis have a higher risk of death than the “general population”, which can be said to be a “health paradox”. In this study, hypochondriasis Most causes of death among patients are related to preventable health risks such as chronic diseases.
The research review noted that, including in Sweden, hypochondriasis is considered underdiagnosed and there is a lack of diagnostic data on hypochondriasis in primary care settings. It is currently unclear how anxiety disorders are associated with an increased risk of death. The study discussion chapter points out that excessive anxiety stress affects the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA axis), leading to abnormal endocrine regulation, as one of the possible reasons.
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People with hypochondriasis tend to associate minor symptoms with serious illnesses, such as believing that a scratchy throat is a warning sign that they have cancer, rather than the most likely seasonal cold. They are more likely to worry about developing HIV, cancer, and dementia, and they are more likely to ignore minor illnesses with higher incidence rates such as pneumococcal infection, cold viruses, and soft tissue injuries. In fact, the prevalence of hypochondriasis in adults is not uncommon. It is generally believed that the prevalence rate is close to 12%. Some commentators claim that the prevalence of hypochondriasis is more than twice that 12%.
What if you knew you might be prone to hypochondria? Obvious signs of hypochondriasis include:
Worrying about having the disease even though you have no symptoms;
Being in normal physical condition after being diagnosed by a doctor but still being unable to relieve anxiety about the disease;
Constantly searching for information about related diseases on the Internet;
Reading information about related diseases. People begin to worry about being patients with the disease due to news reports;
Worries about health affect family, work and social life.
If ordinary people are worried about their physical and mental conditions, they can use the health examination results of scientific instruments to confirm their physical and mental conditions and alleviate their worries about diseases. However, for patients with hypochondriasis, test reports with normal values cannot provide long-term peace of mind. On the contrary, they may repeatedly undergo various tests because they are worried about potential diseases, which in turn aggravates their anxiety problems.
There appears to be a correlation between anxiety disorders and generalized anxiety disorder, but according to the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, only about 37% of people with anxiety disorders receive adequate treatment. Anxiety disorders are often highly related to other physical and mental illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. As long as you have uncontrollable anxiety, you should consult a specialist as soon as possible. You can get help through medication, psychological consultation, or cognitive therapy. improve.
Source:
All-Cause and Cause-Specific Mortality Among Individuals With Hypochondriasis
Always worried about your health? You may be dealing with health anxiety disorder
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