People with psychosis or bipolar disorder are sixfold more likely to die or become seriously ill. This is shown in a new register study at Umeå University.
The study does not answer why the severely mentally ill run a greatly increased risk of becoming ill and dying from infectious diseases. A possible partial explanation could be that the mentally ill more often also suffer from other underlying bodily diseases and are therefore more fragile."This means that we should discuss implementing more preventive measures for these groups," says Niklas Nilsson.