Scared Sick: The Role of Childhood Trauma in Adult Disease, written by Robin Karr-Morse and Meredith Wiley and published in January 2012, was recently reviewed by Seattle Times columnist Jerry Large, who says the book convinced him that the U.S. has to do more to help children, since problems become more expensive to solve as people age.

In our youngest children, society sows the seeds of problems that it spends much time and money dealing with as people age. We know that now, and we can do something about it.

The well-written book pulls together research from multiple disciplines. It enumerates many causes of stress, along with the consequences and mechanisms that connect them. And it offers some ways to prevent or heal the damage.