Evidence continues to mount that suffering multiple traumas
during childhood greatly increases a person's risk of physical
and mental health problems as an adult. Dr. Robert Anda of the
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shared some of
the relevant research with an audience of Iowa policy-makers,
educators, and public health officials this week. Tony Leys
reported on Anda's presentation for the Des Moines Register.
Excerpt: Social traumas cause persistent stress on young
children, releasing body chemicals that can stall growth of
healthy brain cells, Anda said. High-tech scans have shown that
important areas of the brain tend to be less active in people
who went through several such traumas. The damage can lead to
later struggles in the classroom and in social situations, and
it apparently can lead to unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking,
drug abuse and early and promiscuous sex. Anda helped lead a
landmark study of 17,000 California residents in the 1990s,
which produced startling connections be