One in six California adults experienced significant childhood stress, in the form of abuse, neglect or family dysfunction, that significantly increases their odds of having dementia or Alzheimer’s, kidney disease and other health problems, a pioneering study released Wednesday concludes.
The study of 28,000 adults draws a clear line between chronic or severe childhood trauma and serious consequences to one’s health or behavior and social outcomes later in life.
It’s a major public health crisis that has largely been ignored, said Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, founder and CEO of the Center for Youth Wellness in San Francisco, which released the study with the Public Health Institute in Oakland.
It’s not a poor person’s problem or a black person’s problem — toxic stress is a universal problem, she said.
[For more of this story, written by Jill Tucker, go to http://www.sfgate.com/health/a...oints-to-5874040.php]
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