Sexual Violence in Children with Potential Heart Disease in Adults

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Medical Video: Symptoms Found Among The Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Sexual and physical abuse during childhood can cause long-term effects not only on physical health, but also mentally. Furthermore, a number of studies have managed to link cases of sexual violence to children with an increased risk of heart attack and other heart conditions - but the cause is still unclear.

The study, published in July 2014 in the Stroke Journal, gave a new view of this subject, they could show whether women have other causative factors for heart problems. As a result, sexual violence has been proven to be a contributor to atherosclerosis, which they suffer from.

"The surprising thing is, when we control risk factors for heart disease, such as smoking and obesity, the association is so strong. We cannot ignore this link, "said Rebecca Thurston, director of the Womens' Biobehavioral Health Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh, who led the study with a number of colleagues.

More than 1,000 middle-aged women from various ethnic backgrounds in the United States have undergone annual clinical examinations starting in 1996, for 12 years. At the end of the study, they were also interviewed about sexual and physical violence, and underwent ultrasound scanning of their carotid arteries. About 1/4 of women reported experiencing sexual violence in childhood, and a similar percentage also reported sexual violence in adulthood.

When Thurston compared the results of interviews with ultrasound results, he found that women who experienced sexual violence at an early age showed high levels of fat plaque formation in their arteries. These women also have hearts and vessels that look aging for up to 2-3 years compared to women who do not experience violence.

Thurston's findings show that beyond the common risk factors that cause heart disease, a history of sexual violence that they experience remains a potential contributor to atherosclerosis that they suffer from.

Thurston plans to continue the development of this study by studying women who have had heart conditions (in this study, only women without heart disease were involved) to see if this relationship would still be apparent. He also wants to better understand how early sexual violence can affect women in the future. There is some evidence reported that traumatic experiences are able to change the stress response system on a long-term basis, and may be permanent.

Although no woman has signs of heart disease at the start of the study, Thurston said the results indicated that doctors should consider childhood experiences, especially traumatic events, as part of a comprehensive cardiac treatment for women. If the results have been validated, then maybe this research will pave the way to find ways to reduce stress or other psychological techniques that are expected to slow hardening of the arteries and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Sexual Violence in Children with Potential Heart Disease in Adults
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