Onset of Allergies including asthma and hay fever not directly causally
linked to mental health traits

Date:
October 6, 2021
Source:
University of Bristol
Summary:
Allergic diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis and hay fever
do not cause the onset of mental health conditions or vice versa,
according to the new findings.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Allergic diseases such as asthma, atopic dermatitis and hay fever do not
cause the onset of mental health conditions or vice versa, according to
the findings of a new University of Bristol-led study published today
(6 October) in the journalClinical and Experimental Allergy.


========================================================================== While previous studies have reported an observational relationship between mental health and common allergic diseases, until now, causal relationships had not yet been identified.

Researchers from Bristol Medical School: Population Health Sciences
(PHS) and School of Psychological Science wanted to find out whether
allergic diseases actually cause mental health traits including anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia or vice-versa.

First, the team of researchers sought to isolate the effects of these
allergic diseases by applying a scientific technique called Mendelian Randomisation, which allowed them to identify genetic variants linked to
these allergic diseases and then investigated how these variants were
causally related to the presence of mental health conditions based on
a sample of 12,000-344,901 individuals.

Although researchers identified observational associations between allergic disease and mental health traits, these were not replicated
in the team's causal analysis.  Little evidence of a causal
relationship between the onset of allergic disease and mental health was
found suggesting that the observational associations found were due to confounding or other forms of bias.

The authors conclude that intervening on the initial presentation of allergic disease is unlikely to improve mental
health outcomes. Likewise, preventing the onset of mental health
traits will unlikely reduce the risk of allergic disease. However,
further research is required to investigate whether intervening on the progression of allergic disease after onset has any
causal impact on mental health.

Dr Ashley Budu-Aggrey, Senior Research Associate at Bristol Medical
School: PHS and the study's lead author said: "Common mental health
disorders such as anxiety and depression are some of the largest
contributors to the global burden of disease and the prevalence of these
and allergic disease has been increasing for some time. Disentangling the nature of the relationship between allergic disease and mental health
helps answer an important health question and suggests that the
onset of allergic disease does not cause the onset of mental health
traits or vice versa.

"This however does not rule out a potential causal
effect upon the progression of disease which is yet to be investigated
and could help uncover novel treatment strategies for allergic disease or mental health traits." Senior author
Dr Hannah Sallis, Senior Research Associate in Bristol's School of Psychological Science added: "The research used a combination of
approaches and data from several studies. This helps to strengthen
our confidence in the findings. Establishing whether allergic disease
causes mental health problems, or vice versa, is important to ensure
that resources and treatment strategies are targeted appropriately."
The study was funded through grants from the Medical Research Council
(MRC), European Research Council (ERC), National Institute for Health
Research Bristol Biomedical Research Centre (NIHR Bristol BRC),
Norwegian Research Council, British Skin Foundation and the Academy
of Medical Sciences Springboard Award, which is supported by the Wellcome Trust, Department for Business, Energy and
Industrial Strategy, Global Challenges Research Fund and the British
Heart Foundation.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Bristol. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Ashley Budu-Aggrey, Sally Joyce, Neil M. Davies, Lavinia
Paternoster,
Marcus R. Munafo`, Sara J. Brown, Jonathan Evans, Hannah M. Sallis,.

Investigating the causal relationship between allergic disease
and mental health. Clinical and Experimental Allergy, 2021 DOI:
10.1111/cea.14010 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211006080515.htm

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