Childhood trauma raises risk of heart disease.A childhood filled with psychological or physical hardships contributes to a person's risk of developing heart disease as an adult, new research suggests. Researchers at three medical institutions in Atlanta Atlanta (ətlăn`tə, ăt–), city (1990 pop. 394,017), state capital and seat of Fulton co., NW Ga., on the Chattahoochee R. and Peachtree Creek, near the Appalachian foothills; inc. 1847. and San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. looked into the medical records of 17,337 adults to identify risk factors and symptoms of heart disease, including heart attacks. The researchers also surveyed the study participants to assess which of them, as children, had witnessed domestic violence, experienced mental or physical abuse or neglect An omission to do or perform some work, duty, or act. As used by U.S. courts, the term neglect denotes the failure of responsibility on the part of defendants or attorneys. , or lived with someone who went to prison, abused drugs or alcohol, or was mentally ill. The more kinds of trouble a volunteer experienced early in life, the greater were his or her chances of developing heart disease, the researchers found. Compared with having zero to two kinds of adverse childhood experiences, having seven or eight kinds more than doubled the participant's risk, report Maxia Dong of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), agency of the U.S. Public Health Service since 1973, with headquarters in Atlanta; it was established in 1946 as the Communicable Disease Center. in Atlanta and her colleagues in the Sept. 28 Circulation. The researchers already knew that kids who have hard lives are prone to grow up to show traits associated with heart disease, including obesity obesity, condition resulting from excessive storage of fat in the body. Obesity has been defined as a weight more than 20% above what is considered normal according to standard age, height, and weight tables, or by a complex formula known as the body mass index. , depression, and smoking. But compared with people in the general population who also have these traits, those who lived through tough childhoods still often face a future that's hard on the heart.--B.H. |
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