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 Researchers assessed these challenges – known as psychosocial
factors – in 311 kids at age 12 and 18. Then, at age 28, they looked
for calcium deposits in their arteries that can narrow blood vessels
and increase the risk of heart attacks.
The adults who had high psychosocial wellbeing as kids were 15
percent less likely to have calcium deposits clogging their arteries
as adults, the study found.
“This study suggests that childhood psychosocial factors may have
long-term consequences on cardiovascular health,” lead study author
Dr. Markus Juonala of the University of Turku in Finland said by
email.
To understand the connection between how kids feel growing up and
how their arteries look decades later, Juonala and colleagues
analyzed data gathered from 1980 to 2008 as part of the
Cardiovascular Risk in Young Finns Study.
Among other things, this study measured psychosocial wellbeing by
looking at family income and education levels, parents’ job status,
parents’ mental health and history of smoking or substance abuse,
parents’ weight and exercise habits, stressful events such as
divorce, death or moves, as well as the child’s level of aggressive
or anti-social behaviors and ability to interact with other people.
In addition, researchers analyzed results from computed tomography
(CT) scans of coronary arteries to assess the amount of calcium
clogging vessels.
Overall, 55 participants, or about 18 percent, had at least some
calcification in their arteries, researchers report in JAMA
Pediatrics.
Among this group with calcification, 28 participants had low levels
of buildup, 20 had moderate amounts of calcium and 7 had substantial
deposits, the study found.
Even after accounting for adult circumstances like psychosocial
factors and risk factors for heart disease like obesity, smoking,
high blood pressure and elevated cholesterol, the research team
still found wellbeing during childhood influenced the odds that
coronary arteries would be clogged for adults.
The study is observational and doesn’t prove childhood stress causes
clogged arteries or heart attacks, only that the two things are
related, the authors note.
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It’s possible, however, that stress during childhood might trigger
changes in metabolic functioning and inflammation that later
contribute to calcium deposits in the arteries, the researchers
point out.
It’s also possible that happier kids may develop healthier habits
like better diets and more rigorous exercise routines that help keep
arteries unclogged and lower their risk of heart disease later in
life.
“The take-home message for parents is to understand that stress in
childhood may have many adverse effects and that they should help
their children avoid stress,” said Dr. Stephen Daniels, a researcher
at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and
pediatrician-in-chief at Children’s Hospital Colorado.
Parents may not always be able to eliminate stress, however,
particularly the stress that can come from environmental factors
like lower socioeconomic status, Daniels, who wasn’t involved in the
study, added by email.
When children grow up with stress, they can still take charge of
their health as adults to lower their risk of heart disease, Daniels
noted.
“For an adult who had a stressful childhood, the best approach is to
be aware of their cardiovascular risk status and to reduce their
risk by improving diet and physical activity and avoiding cigarette
smoking,” Daniels added. “Where risk factors exist, such as high
blood pressure, they should be appropriately treated.”
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/1M5a0mL JAMA Pediatrics, online March 14,
2016.
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