Cardiovascular health of Finnish war evacuees 60 years later
Cardiovascular health of Finnish war evacuees 60 years later
Background: early life experiences might have long-term effects on health.
Aim: to assess prevalence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life among individuals exposed to traumatic separation in early childhood due to World War II.
Methods: of the participants of the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934-44 Study (n=2003), 320 had been evacuated abroad to temporary foster care in childhood. The remaining participants served as controls. The mean age at evacuation was 4.8 (SD=2.4) years and the mean duration of the evacuation was 1.7 (SD=1.0) years.
Results: cardiovascular morbidity was higher among the former war evacuees (14.7% versus 7.9%; odds ratio (OR)=2.0, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.4-2.9; P<0.001). A similar difference in prevalence of type 2 diabetes was observed (19.7% versus 14.8%; OR=1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.9, P=0.025). The former war evacuees were also more likely to be hypertensive (P<0.05). The effects on morbidity were not explained by age at testing or socio-economic circumstances in childhood or adulthood.
Conclusion: early life traumatic events may extend lifelong effects on health. This study is among the first to show that early life trauma predicts higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in late adulthood, in a longitudinal clinical study setting
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, life stress, programming
66-72
Alastalo, Hanna
3a5e2504-3d51-45db-9824-31588131da94
Raikkonen, Katri
7f44cbef-84f3-4d77-9ccc-f026ce537dd8
Pesonen, Anu-Katriina
8cc53fef-f713-425e-bd01-8f1c53842351
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Heinonen, Kati
46bb57d0-1c33-4cdd-badf-d38a5fc61200
Forsen, Tom J.
55342e20-c4a5-40e5-ad81-2a64c1e0f333
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
2009
Alastalo, Hanna
3a5e2504-3d51-45db-9824-31588131da94
Raikkonen, Katri
7f44cbef-84f3-4d77-9ccc-f026ce537dd8
Pesonen, Anu-Katriina
8cc53fef-f713-425e-bd01-8f1c53842351
Osmond, Clive
2677bf85-494f-4a78-adf8-580e1b8acb81
Barker, David J.P.
5c773838-b094-4ac1-999b-b5869717f243
Kajantie, Eero
d68d55b6-6df1-4195-a914-44c738a6db93
Heinonen, Kati
46bb57d0-1c33-4cdd-badf-d38a5fc61200
Forsen, Tom J.
55342e20-c4a5-40e5-ad81-2a64c1e0f333
Eriksson, Johan G.
eb96b1c5-af07-4a52-8a73-7541451d32cd
Alastalo, Hanna, Raikkonen, Katri, Pesonen, Anu-Katriina, Osmond, Clive, Barker, David J.P., Kajantie, Eero, Heinonen, Kati, Forsen, Tom J. and Eriksson, Johan G.
(2009)
Cardiovascular health of Finnish war evacuees 60 years later.
Annals of Medicine, 41 (1), .
(doi:10.1080/07853890802301983).
Abstract
Background: early life experiences might have long-term effects on health.
Aim: to assess prevalence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life among individuals exposed to traumatic separation in early childhood due to World War II.
Methods: of the participants of the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934-44 Study (n=2003), 320 had been evacuated abroad to temporary foster care in childhood. The remaining participants served as controls. The mean age at evacuation was 4.8 (SD=2.4) years and the mean duration of the evacuation was 1.7 (SD=1.0) years.
Results: cardiovascular morbidity was higher among the former war evacuees (14.7% versus 7.9%; odds ratio (OR)=2.0, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.4-2.9; P<0.001). A similar difference in prevalence of type 2 diabetes was observed (19.7% versus 14.8%; OR=1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.9, P=0.025). The former war evacuees were also more likely to be hypertensive (P<0.05). The effects on morbidity were not explained by age at testing or socio-economic circumstances in childhood or adulthood.
Conclusion: early life traumatic events may extend lifelong effects on health. This study is among the first to show that early life trauma predicts higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in late adulthood, in a longitudinal clinical study setting
This record has no associated files available for download.
More information
Published date: 2009
Keywords:
cardiovascular disease, diabetes, life stress, programming
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 68982
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/68982
ISSN: 0785-3890
PURE UUID: 59276e98-f3f6-4acd-8037-8e222f99def0
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 13 Oct 2009
Last modified: 23 Jul 2022 01:39
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Hanna Alastalo
Author:
Katri Raikkonen
Author:
Anu-Katriina Pesonen
Author:
David J.P. Barker
Author:
Eero Kajantie
Author:
Kati Heinonen
Author:
Tom J. Forsen
Author:
Johan G. Eriksson
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics