Comorbidity is the existence of two or more diseases simultaneously in the same person.
One of the characteristics of comorbidity is that there is a possibility that the pathologies mutually potentiate each other, that is, one causes the aggravation of the other and vice versa. In addition, comorbidity can make diagnosis difficult and influence prognosis.
As for examples of comorbidity, there are diseases and conditions that are considered comorbidities of obesity, such as diabetes, hypertension, heart failure, among others. Likewise, we are facing a comorbidity in the case of a person who suffers from high blood pressure and glaucoma.
Another case in which there are usually comorbidities is ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). People with this disorder, in addition to presenting symptoms such as distraction, hyperactivity, impulsivity, can also be diagnosed with: depression, Antisocial Personality Disorder, Eating Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, among others.
Regarding the factors that lead to comorbidity, there are risk factors that can aggravate a disease or cause another that will be called comorbidity. Despite this, depending on the disease, it is not always possible to identify the causative elements of comorbidity.
The word comorbidity is formed by the prefix co-, which means "together" and morbidity, a word that indicates the incidence of diseases.
Find out more about the meaning of morbidity.
Comorbidity in Psychology and Psychiatric Comorbidity
In psychology, comorbidity consists of disorders that occur in the individual mentally and not physically. This is an area addressed by Psychology and Psychiatry.
Psychiatric comorbidity is the existence of more than one psychiatric disorder simultaneously in the same individual. For example, a person may have Bipolar Disorder and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.
This type of comorbidity can arise when the person is dependent on alcohol, drugs or other psychoactive substances. In cases where there are comorbidities in people with severe psychiatric disorders, studies show that there is a greater probability of suicide, relapse and arrest for the practice of illegal acts.
Comorbidity or comorbidity?
As for the question regarding spelling: comorbidity or comorbidity, the correct way to write is without the hyphen, since the The 1990 orthographic agreement determined that in words with the prefix co-, the agglutination of this to the word.