Childhood abuse, especially physical abuse, may increase the risk of heart failure later in life, according to a new study.
- Considered a chronic disease, heart failure is the inability of the heart pump to ensure sufficient blood flow to meet the body’s needs. It can be the consequence of other pathologies or lifestyle.
- 10% of people aged 70 and over suffer from heart failure. Each year, about 200,000 people are hospitalized because of this disease.
- About 1.5 million people are affected in France. Health Insurance notes that this figure should “increase by 25% every four years”.
A new studypublished in the Journal of the American Heart Associationlinks childhood traumatic experiences to heart health problems.
We already knew that victims of child abuse were more at risk of developing cardiovascular illnesseshigh blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, multiple sclerosis and mental illnesses later in life. But there hadn’t been any research on this specific to heart failure.
According to the results of this new study, having been the victim of child abuse was associated with a 14% increased risk of developing heart failure. Victims who had suffered several types of child abuse (three to five types) even had a 43% higher risk.
Physical abuse increases risk of heart failure by 32%
To arrive at these results, the researchers analyzed data from 153,287 adults in the UK and focused on participants who had undergone child abuse. The authors of the study defined several types as physical abuse, physical neglect, emotional abuse, emotional neglect and sexual abuse. After about 12 years of follow-up, 2,067 participants developed heart failure. Among the different types of child maltreatment, the study found that physical abuse was associated with the greatest increased risk of heart failure (32%), followed by emotional abuse (26%), physical neglect ( 23%), sexual abuse (15%) and emotional neglect (12%).
The study also looked at whether participants had a genetic predisposition toheart failure so as not to bias the results. The researchers found that childhood abuse increased the risk of heart failure, even in people with low genetic risk. The authors point out, however, that due to its design, the study has certain limitations. For example, the severity, frequency, and duration of abuse were not measured, which may affect the final results.
Heart disease: identifying cases of abuse
Dr Qingshan Geng, a cardiologist at Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital in China and co-author of the study, said in a communicated that although the results were somewhat expected, they “suggest that childhood maltreatment may be a novel predictor of heart failure later in life.” “Early identification of childhood maltreatment may help inform risk of long-term heart failure”he adds.
Dr. Geng called on cardiologists to work more closely with psychiatrists and psychologists to find new ways to fight cardiovascular disease. He also encouraged those who have been abused to carefully monitor their health and lifestyle to reduce the risk of future heart failure.
