Comorbidity: Symptoms, Conditions, Behavior and Treatments

by Rhonda Brown (Editor), Einar Thorsteinsson (Editor)

Overview

This book introduces a new theory on the substantial comorbidity that exists between many illnesses and disorders and concurrent symptoms such as pain, impaired sleep and fatigue. The specific illnesses and disorders discussed include obesity, diabetes mellitus type-II, medical illnesses including cardiovascular disease and sleep-disordered breathing, insomnia, disordered eating such as binge-eating disorder and night-eating syndrome, affective distress (anxiety and depression), and comorbidities that are linked to eating disorders such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa. The book posits that the comorbidities are the result of a complex bio-psycho-behavioral mechanism that includes circadian rhythm dysfunction. It examines the statistical and methodological (e.g. measurement) problems that can complicate the understanding of comorbidity and explores a broad range of novel, existing, and repurposed therapy approaches that could have utility in treating comorbid disorders. 

This book will be of great value to academics as well as practitioners working in the field of psychiatry, health psychology and medicine more broadly. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9783030325459
Publisher:	Palgrave Macmillan
Publication date:	11/30/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

Rhonda Brown is Associate Professor of Health Psychology in the Research School of Psychology at the Australian National University, Australia. With national and international collaborators, she examines predictive relationships between stress, affective distress, sleep, fatigue, and illness outcomes in patients and community-well individuals. Over the last 20 years, she has also examined work-stress, burnout, communication performance, and empathy in medical staff and medical and psychology students; as well as impaired immunity and infection comorbidity in anorexia nervosa patients. 
Einar Thorsteinsson is Associate Professor at the University of New England, Australia. He worked at La Trobe University in a fire fighting decision making lab for two years before he moved back to focus on health psychology at the University of New England where he has built national and international research collaborations covering areas such as stress, burnout, sleep, social support, depression, anxiety, adolescent coping and health, and psychological wellbeing.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: Comorbidity: What is it and why is it important?; Rhonda Brown and Einar Thorsteinsson.-  Chapter 2: Models of Comorbidity; Rhonda Brown and Einar Thorsteinsson.- Chapter 3: Overweight/Obesity and Concurrent Disorders, Symptoms, Behaviour and Body Temperature; Rhonda Brown and Yasmine Umar.- Chapter 4: Overview of the Comorbidity between Medical Illnesses and Overweight/ Obesity; Christopher J Nolan.- Chapter 5: Comorbid Eating Disorders; C. Laird Birmingham.- Chapter 6: Comorbid psychiatric illnesses; Einar Thorsteinsson and Rhonda Brown.- Chapter 7: Arousal States, Symptoms, Behaviour, Sleep, and Body Temperature; Rhonda Brown and Einar Thorsteinsson.- Chapter 8: Design, statistical and methodological considerations: Comorbidity; Einar Thorsteinsson and Rhonda Brown.- Chapter 9: Typing It All Together; Rhonda Brown and Einar Thorsteinsson.

Editorial Reviews

Reviewer: Gary B Kaniuk, PsyD (Cermak Health Services)
Description: The book discusses a new theory underlying comorbidity among different illnesses. It is thought that comorbidity is an interaction within the bio-psycho-behavioral mechanism, including circadian rhythm dysfunction. This book explores various models of comorbidity, along with comorbid medical and psychiatric disorders.
Purpose: According to the book, "the co-authors have worked collectively, in several different research groups, to answer the following questions related to disease comorbidity: What is causing the comorbidity between different medical and psychological conditions? What role (if any) is played by the shared (or overlapping) medical and psychological symptoms? Or is a common factor more likely to cause the co-occurrences? Finally, why is a similar profile of risk factors detected for a range of different but frequently comorbid illnesses and conditions?" The book meets these worthy objectives.
Audience: According to the book, it "will be of great value to academics as well as practitioners working in the field of psychiatry, health psychology, and medicine more broadly." The authors are credibly authorities in the subject matter of the book. Rhonda Brown is an associate professor at Australian National University. Her research has focused on stress, burnout, communication, empathy within the medical staff, impaired immunity, and infection comorbidity in anorexia nervosa clients. Einar Thorsteinsson is an associate professor at the University of New England, Australia. His focus is on health psychology including stress, burnout, sleep, social support, and psychological well-being. The other contributors represent an international authorship from Canada and Australia. They are affiliated with institutions of higher learning.
Features: The book begins with a description of comorbidity and its importance. Disease comorbidity presents significant individual and societal costs, along with indirect costs. There are different clinical models of comorbidity but not all have been empirically tested. The authors believe that a complex bio-psycho-behavioral mechanism exists. When this mechanism produces an increased nocturnal body temperature resulting in sleep disturbance, it can lead to comorbidity. Obesity is linked to chronic illnesses (metabolic syndrome, thyroid disorder, COPD, kidney disease), depression, and disordered eating (anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa). Other psychiatric disorders include anxiety and personality disorders, while biological models such as stress-related immune suppression and brain changes have also been posited. There is a relationship between arousal, changes in body temperature, fatigue, and pain. It is important that research protocols remove overlapping scale items. Researchers must be careful to distinguish between causal and correlational data.
Assessment: The book is interesting because it addresses the important topic of comorbidity, in relation to both medical and psychological disorders. It is written by experts in the field who posit a fascinating theory regarding comorbidity, though more research is needed. Clinicians and researchers will find the book a compelling read.

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