Childhood traumas may lead to faster cellular aging of our bodies, which could increase the risk of illness and early death, a new study suggests.
Researchers in the U.S. and Canada found an association between significant childhood traumas and an increased likelihood of having shortened telomeres later in life. Telomeres are essential components of human cells that cap the ends of our chromosomes.
鈥淵ou can think of them as the plastic tips at the end of shoelaces that protect the rest of the shoelace from fraying,鈥� Eli Puterman, a kinesiology professor at the University of British Columbia and co-author of the study, told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning on Wednesday.
Puterman explained that telomeres protect chromosomes from unravelling, which causes cells to age and die faster. Previous research has linked shortened telomeres to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer鈥檚 disease, among other ailments, he said. Short telomeres are also considered predictors of early mortality.
nearly 4,600 men and women who were already participating in the U.S.Health and Retirement Study, a bi-annual health survey of adults over 50 that began in 1992.
Participants were asked about stressful events in childhood and later in life. The traumas were classified as either financial (growing up impoverished or losing a job, for example) or social (such as parental abuse, death of a child or a spouse).
鈥淲hat we found is that when you added up all these different types of events 鈥� it led to shortened telometers in these adults,鈥� Puterman said. 鈥淎nd what was driving these effects were stressful events that were occurring in childhood.鈥�
Each significant stressful event in a person鈥檚 childhood appeared to increase the risk of shorter telomeres by 11 percent, researchers determined. Social stressors, rather than financial ones, appeared to be doing the most damage.
Puterman said the increased risk of faster cellular aging is 鈥渞elative鈥� and not every person who suffers childhood traumas will wind up with shorter telomeres and a shorter lifespan.
He said physical activity, eating well, sleeping well and mental health care can help reverse the effects of cellular aging.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 important as an adult is realizing that we need to take care of the trauma in our minds in order to be able to cope with events a little bit better.鈥�
