In brief: Childhood trauma is taken to heart
In brief
At an average age of 56, about 10% of the people responding had heart disease. After controls for ethnic origin and education, all the experiences mentioned in the questionnaire except marital discord strongly increased the risk of heart disease, with emotional abuse by parents raising the odds most. The more kinds of childhood trauma or abuse a person had experienced, the higher the likelihood of heart disease in middle age and later. With seven or more kinds, the odds more than tripled.
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