Diabetes bad for those with severe mental illness

Diabetes is deadlier for people with severe mental illness than it is for mentally stable people, says a new research. 

A study found that people with severe mental illness are more than twice as likely to have type 2 diabetes, with even higher risk among among patients who are African American or Hispanic. Among more than 15000 patients with severe mental illness, 28.1% had type 2 diabetes, the researchers said. In contrast, 12.2% of general population is estimated to have a disease.

Among racial minorities with with severe mental illness, the incidences were 36.9% for Hispanics, 36.3% for African Americans and 30.7 for Asians versus 25.1% for whites.The study followed a previous research that linked severe mental illness to low levels of testing for diabetes, Low rates of HIV testing- despite a significantly higher likelihood of being HIV positive- and, among women, low rate of screening of cervical cancer.

 Antipsychotic medications prescribed for conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder may cause weight gain  and impact cholesterol levels and insulin resistance, adds an expert. Additionally people with severe mental illness have more tenuous life circumstances, including food insecurity, low income, and unstable housing situation, which all increase their risk of diabetes.

 Stressors such as structural racism compound these problems in minorities. Prediabetes, in which blood sugar levels are elevated, was also found to be high among people with severe mental illness. The condition was more common among those who were minorities and tended to emerge as young as 20, the researchers noted. the study finding appear in the journal Diabetes care.