Those who have experienced their parents’ divorce during their childhood seem to be more likely to suffer stroke Compared to their peers, according to a study published in Plos One.
Researchers studied data for 13,205 Americans aged 65 and over, of which 13.9% had experienced their parents’ divorce before the age of 18. They found that one in nine who had experienced their parents’ divorce reported that he had been diagnosed with a stroke compared to one in 15 who did not have this experience.
Even after taking into account known risk factors associated with stroke, such as smoking, physical inactivity, lower income and education, diabetes, depression and low social support, respondents whose parents had divorced 61%.
The researchers excluded from the sample participants with a history of child abuse. “We found, however, that even when people had not experienced physical and sexual abuse in their childhood and had at least one adult that made them feel safe in their home, they were still more likely to have a stroke if their parents had divorced them,” Biden.
Researchers note that the strong correlation found is similar in size to two other established risk factors, diabetes and depression. They say that it is not clear why this relationship between parents’ divorce and stroke, but they believe that they could play a role in both biological and social factors. “From a biological point of view, the separation of parents during childhood could lead to steady high levels of stress.
Experimenting this event as a child could have permanent effects on the developing brain and the child’s ability to respond to stress, “explains the lead author of the study, a professor at the University of Toronto, Esme Fuller.
Researchers clarify that the conclusions may not be able to generalize the younger generations, which have experienced overall higher rates of divorces in their parents.
They also emphasize that several factors, such as blood pressure, cholesterol, contraceptive use, age during parenting and stroke types, were not available in the data. However, they point out that their data supports a correlation between parents’ divorce during childhood and increased risk of stroke.