We’ve long known that suffering physical or sexual abuse in childhood negatively affects mental health for life. But recently, researchers have uncovered a link between more common forms of childhood adversity and chronic physical conditions later in life.
In other words, scientists are breaking down, on a biochemical level, how stressors we face when we’re young catch up with us when we’re adults — predisposing us to autoimmune disease, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, migraines, and asthma.
As a science journalist who has spent the last ten years exploring the intersection between neuroscience, immunology, and the deepest inner workings of the human heart, I decided to delve into the research in my new book, Childhood Disrupted: How Your Biography Becomes Your Biology, and How You Can Heal.
The work builds upon a large-scale epidemiological study launched in 1998 that probed into the child histories of 17,000 patients, and compared their early experiences to later health records.
[For more of this story, written by Donna Jackson Nakazawa, go to http://www.mindbodygreen.com/0...day-how-to-heal.html]
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