Middle Age Heart Diseases Linked To Hardships During Childhood

A child growing up in an environment full of adversities is likely to develop a type of cardiovascular disease in middle age. Lasting psychological, physiological, and behavioral changes may also play a role. This is according to a large study analyzing the health effects that childhood adversity can cause at a later stage in life.

Difficulty In Coping With Stressful Events

Traumatic experiences during childhood can affect the ability of a person to successfully handle stressful events later in life. When they become adults, such persons may attempt to cope with overeating and smoking.

Research also suggests that those who went through neglect and abuse during their childhood days are likely to develop high blood pressure, inflammation, and diabetes. Their hormone cortisol levels may also be higher in response to stress.

Proven By Research

In the past, there are only a few longitudinal studies that have followed individuals into their middle age. Thus, it was difficult then to establish whether or not childhood adversity has a role in cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk and mortality.

Today, the biggest ever research of this type suggests people who went through neglect, family dysfunction, and trauma while kids are more likely to suffer from a CVD event. These include experiencing stroke and heart disease in their middle age. It has also been found they are likely to have higher rates of mortality from all causes.

Coping Mechanisms

The study, led by Jacob Pierce of the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago, Illinois, was published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. Researchers say there is also mounting evidence that extreme adversity during childhood makes people likely to take health risks. “This population of adults is much more likely to partake in risky behaviors — for example, using food as a coping mechanism, which can lead to problems with weight and obesity,” Pierce said.

He also added that such individuals had been observed to have higher rates of smoking, which is directly associated with cardiovascular disease. Their research used data obtained from the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study. The participants in that study involved a racially and socioeconomically varied group of individuals aged 18 to 30 years old.