Researchers in Taiwan claim that the risk of stroke in adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder is adult stroke. Obsessive-compulsive disorder is a common mental illness that suffers from uncontrollable recurring thoughts and behaviors.

The study leaders are not sure why, but they speculate that the existence of other mental health diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, as well as other comorbidities such as hypertension and type 2 diabetes, may also play a role.

Study co-author Tai-Long Pan said that after adjusting for obesity, heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and type 2 diabetes and other stroke-related comorbidities, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is still an ischemic stroke Independent risk factors. He is a professor at Chang Gung University in Taoyuan.

Pan said: “Clinicians should closely monitor the cerebrovascular disease and related risks of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.”

Obsessive-compulsive disorder Unable to stop intrusive thoughts and compulsive behaviors, such as the need to wash your hands too often. These compulsions and compulsions can become omnipotent, affecting their ability to perform normal activities (such as going to work or school).

The researchers emphasized that they did not confirm a direct cause and effect relationship, but only confirmed the association between the two health conditions.

Pan and his team used Taiwan’s national health data to count more than 28,000 adults with obsessive-compulsive disorder and 28,000 adults without obsessive-compulsive disorder. In 11 years, study participants with obsessive-compulsive disorder were three times more likely to have a stroke than participants without obsessive-compulsive disorder.

The people at greatest risk are those 60 years of age and older who have been diagnosed with OCD.

There are two types Stroke. An ischemic stroke is caused by a blockage in one of the arteries that carry blood to the brain. Researchers did not find that obsessive-compulsive disorder increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke, and hemorrhagic stroke can cause brain hemorrhage, but only lead to ischemic stroke.

Researchers also found that drugs commonly used to treat obsessive-compulsive disorder did not seem to affect a person’s risk of stroke.

Pan said that healthy lifestyle habits such as smoking cessation and regular exercise are important to prevent stroke, and patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder must be aware of their increased risk of stroke.

Dr. Larry Goldstein, head of the Department of Neurology at the University of Kentucky at Lexington, told reporters U.S. News and World Report Although the relative risk of ischemic stroke in this population is much higher, Absolute risk Still very low for individual patients – Less than one percent. He was not involved in this research.

Goldstein explained that these findings may have been affected by other factors beyond the control of researchers, so more studies are needed to confirm these findings.

Survey results Published in the “Stroke” magazine.