Adverse events in childhood have been associated with an increase in the likelihood of developing lung cancer in later life. Scientists writing in the open access journal BMC Public Health describe how the link is partly explained by raised rates of cigarette smoking in victims of childhood trauma, but note that other factors may also be to blame.

David Brown and Robert Anda, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, USA, worked with a team of scientists to study the effects of abuse (emotional, physical, sexual), witnessing domestic violence, parental separation, or growing up in a household where people were mentally ill, substance abusers, or sent to prison. He said, "Adverse childhood experiences were linked to an increased risk of lung cancer, especially premature death from lung cancer. Eventhough smoking behaviours, including early smoking initiation and heavy smoking, account for the greater part of this risk, other mechanisms or pathophysiologic pathways appears to be involved".

Adverse event information was collected from 17,337 people between 1995 and 1997. Brown and colleagues followed up on the medical records of these same people to study lung cancer rates in 2005. As per Brown, "In comparison to those who claimed no childhood trauma, people who experienced six or more traumas were about three times more likely to have lung cancer, identified either through hospitalization records or mortality records. Of the people who developed, or died of, lung cancer, those with six or more adverse events in childhood were roughly 13 years younger at presentation than those with none. People who had experienced more adverse events in childhood showed more smoking behaviors".

You might want to consider undergoing substance abuse counseling when your drug habits are starting to do harm to your loved ones.

The central message of this study is that our children can be faced with a terrible burden of stressors. These stressors are linked to harmful behaviours, such as smoking, that may lead the development of diseases like lung cancer and perhaps death at younger ages. Reducing the burden of adverse childhood experiences should therefore be considered in health and social programs as a means of primary prevention of lung cancer and other smoking-related diseases.


Posted by: Justin234    Source

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