New research reveals that people who suffer from traumatic experiences in childhood are more likely to die by the age of 50, the Daily Mail reports.
Based on data from the 1958 National Child Development Study, researchers from he French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM), in collaboration with the ESRC International Centre for Lifecourse Studies in Society and Health at University College London, found that for both men and women who suffer from at least two traumas in early life are 80 percent more likely to die before the age of 50.
Traumatic experience counted in the study includes neglect, parental separation, having a parent imprisoned and abuse. Researchers analyzed data based on the experiences of more than 15,000 people who faced adversity at the ages of seven, 11, and 16. They found that women were 66 percent more likely to die before the age of 50 if they had suffered at least one negative experience by the age of 16, and the likelihood of an early death increased as did the amount of childhood trauma they had faced.
Men, on the other hand, were 57 percent more likely to die before the age of 50 if they had suffered two or more childhood traumatic experiences. The researchers noted that some causes of death in participants from the 1958 National Childhood Study were related to illness caused by mental stress, such as suicide and addiction to drugs and alcohol.
In addition, the researchers suggested that adults who had suffered from extreme stress as children were more likely to have imbalanced hormones and immune systems, thus affecting their physical development and health later on in life.
"This work on early psychological trauma and premature death adds a whole new dimension to public health," Mel Bartley, one of study's authors, said in a University College London statement. "It shows that if we are going to ensure better health in the population the work needs to begin early in life to support children experiencing severe adversities. Many people have suspected this but until now we have not had such high quality evidence from such a large cohort of people."
