Mental illness may accelerate ageing

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-02-18 03:00

New Zealand; International

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An international study of 938 New Zealanders at age 45 found those with mental health issues aged faster than those who were mentally-healthy. Their hearing, vision, balance, movement, and thinking were all worse, and they were rated as looking older too. The authors say the results suggest preventing mental health disorders and monitoring people with mental illness for signs of premature ageing may help people live longer, healthier lives.

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Journal/
conference: JAMA Psychiatry

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: Duke University, USA

Funder: This research was supported by grants R01AG032282 and R01AG049789 from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) (Dr Moffitt) and grant MR/P005918 from the UK Medical Research Council (Dr Moffitt). Additional support was provided by the Jacobs Foundation, NIA grants P30 AG028716 and P30 AG034424, and New Zealand Health Research Council grant 15-265 (Dr Poulton). The Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study is supported by the New Zealand Health Research Council and New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation, and Employment. DrWertz was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the AXA Research Fund. Dr Rasmussen was supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Lundbeck Foundation (grant R288-2018-380).

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