Difficult Childhood May Increase Disease Risk in Adulthood

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091207164856.htm

ScienceDaily (Dec. 8, 2009) — Individuals who experience psychological or social adversity in childhood may have lasting emotional, immune and metabolic abnormalities that help explain why they develop more age-related diseases in adulthood, according to a report in the December issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

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"The effects of adverse childhood experiences on age-related disease risks in adulthood were non-redundant, cumulative and independent of the influence of established developmental and concurrent risk factors," such as family history, low birth weight or high childhood body mass index, the authors write.

"In conclusion, it has long been known that pathophysiological processes leading to age-related diseases may already be under way in childhood," they continue. "The promotion of healthy psychosocial experiences for children is a necessary and potentially cost-effective target for the prevention of age-related disease."