A new study has found a link between common gut conditions and mental health, that could change how patients are treated.
Researchers found that the gut has the highest number of nerve cells in the body, second to the brain.
“There’s a lot of interaction between the brain and the gut,” Professor Eske Derks from Neurogenomics said.
The study found that gastrointestinal conditions including IBS, reflux, stomach ulcers and gallstones had the strongest link with depression.
“We identified that the gastrointestinal cluster had the strongest link with depression,” researcher Damian Woodward said.
It works both ways in that not only does the gut affect mental health, but chronic stress affects the gut.
“It’s really that stress level. When you have the constant stress, the system sort of gets dysregulated and we don’t know where it starts,” Derks said.
The finding could eventually change how depression is treated and managed, with doctors encouraged to check for other physical symptoms and treat both the brain and the body.
Dietitian Jemma O’Hanlon from Foodwatch said that eating better is a good starting point to improving overall health.
“People who have chosen to eat better and have felt better and have improved their mood and lifted their spirits and overall feel so much better,” she said.
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