A child (Photo : Reuters/Esam Omran Al-Fetori)
According to a new Swedish study, stressful life events in childhood, such as divorce, illness or death, can triple the risk of getting Type 1 diabetes, Highlight Press reported. The study was published in the journal Diabetologia.
Stress is a feeling of pressure and strain. Small amounts of stress may be healthy, beneficial anddesired. However, bad stress such as serious life events in childhood and conflicts in the family can raise the risk of mental illnesses, ulcers, heart attacks and strokes, according to Daily Times Gazette.
In the study, scientists from Linkoping University looked at the cases of 10,000 families with children born between October 1, 1997 and September 30, 1999 to determine association between risk of Type 1 diabetes and childhood trauma. The data showed that the risk of Type 1 diabetes was increased up to 300 percent in kids who had experienced traumatic events, compared to kids who had not experienced such events.
The researchers suggested that the results of the study stress the importance of acknowledging psychological stress as a plausible risk factor for Type 1 diabetes; however, more research is needed to confirm the findings.
The causes of Type 1 diabetes are not known; however, both environmental and genetic factors are involved. Normally, Type 1 diabetes is preceded by the body's immune system targeting and killing the beta cells in the pancreas responsible for producing insulin.
Furthermore, extreme stress experienced during childhood may change the parts of the brain that are responsible for the processing of emotion and stress, memory and learning, according to PsychCentral.
