Children who experience multiple traumatic events, from emotional and sexual abuse to neglect, have higher blood pressures as young adults than their peers, researchers report.
The difference of 10 points in the systolic pressure – the top number denoting pressure while the heart is contracting – by early adulthood puts these young people at higher risk for hypertension and coronary artery disease by middle and/or old age, said Dr. Shaoyong Su, genetic epidemiologist at the Medical College of Georgia at Georgia Regents University.
As an example, comparing two white males in the study with the same body mass index, the one who reported no adverse childhood events, or ACEs, had a systolic pressure of 117. His peer with four or more ACEs had a top measure of 127.
[For more of this story go to http://scienceblog.com/77868/a...#rti54BzYYg35lPi7.99]
Comments (1)