The Longterm Impact of Child Abuse !!!
Last year, in my department's conference, I presented a 15-minute talk on the longterm impact of child abuse. In my talk, I presented a fact that wasn't known by most of the audiance.
Did you know that the abuse in a child's early years, will impact his lifespan?
Which type of abuse?
Any type; physical, sexual and even neglect and psychological abuse will result in the same outcome.
Yes, that is true. Several studies have been done in the last few years proving that!!!
Even if the abuse wasn't for a long period of his childhood!?!
Yes.
For decades, pediatricians, police and social workers have been greatly involved in this worldwide problem. Only recently, molecular and biopsychological scientists started to take part in this humane calling. Their studies depended on the changes that occur in the adult's DNA as a result of early life abuse.
Have you ever heard of Telomeres?
It came from the Greek words "Telos" that means end and "meros" that means part. Telomeres are the small caps on the chromosomes ends. It is a repeated sequence of "TTAGGG". Its function is to protect our DNA from damage. Every time a cell divides, the telomeres get shorter and shorter, that is why telomeres are cellular age markers.
So, The longer the telomere, the younger the DNA, the longer the life span and vice versa.
However, all our cells contain an enzyme called the "telomerase" enzyme. The telomerase enzyme build up our telomeres again. Despite of that enzyme, our telomeres get short and eventually we age.
When this enzyme activity was measure in adults with abused background and compared with adults with normal childhood, the enzyme activity was greatly different. Scientists have found that the telomerase activity is greatly reduced in the first group than the second, thus giving the first group older and more aged cells. The final result of this is, either a shorter lifespan or more susceptibility to DNA damage and cancer.
That is why, it is not fair to judge the person who abuses a child on purpose for the bruises and fractures and the depression only. That person stole away not only this child's childhood but he stole his whole life...in my opinion he is slowly killing him.
In Africa, as well as the whole world, child abuse is a major problem. However in Africa most of the cases are not reported or there may be no official agency to report to in the first place. Thus, the child abuse problem in Africa is very difficult to assess.
Another problem in Africa, is the tough, harsh and poor environments that some parts of Africa suffer. How many times have you seen a picture of small tiny African child, so thin, so undernourished and standing in the middle of a vast desert?
If a short period of child abuse can affect the child's whole life and shortens his lifespan, then what about the small African children living in the poor areas of Africa?
I guess, if we measured their telomeric length and calculated their cellular age, we will find it as old as 70 years or more. As he faces death everyday and has to think of ways to survive ...everyday!!!
The problem is who is it you can arrest here? Who is to be blamed? ....no ...no...no...that is not the way I should be thinking ...what can I do to help...how can we all participate...how can all the African countries hold hands to help each other? How can we nourish these areas?
Since my talk, I have been searching for a way to help....how about you?
You can read more about this problem:
http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110517/full/news.2011.298.html?s=news_rss
http://psychcentral.com/news/2011/04/25/childhood-trauma-may-accelerate-diseases-of-aging/25606.html
http://promega.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/the-link-between-childhood-adversity-and-cellular-aging/
http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/11/23/child-abuse-may-cause-premature-aging/9722.html
Image credit by NeonZero via Wikimedia Commons
