Scientific Survey Suggests Childhood Abuse Doubles Risk
It is well-known that childhood abuse can lead to changes in the metabolic, immune systems or the body’s systems in various ways. There can be a reason why people who have been abused as children are more likely to develop chronic diseases, says Dr. Badley. “We argued that the more severe or the more frequent the abuse, the more likely these enduring changes would occur. If this kind of mechanism is associated with arthritis, then we might expect that the children who suffered severe or frequent abuses are more likely to develop arthritis than those who did not. And this is what we found. This raises some hypotheses or new areas to research about what the mechanism might be.” The researchers surveyed 21,889 Canadians, and asked whether as children they had ever been physically abused, sexually abused, or witnessed violence between their parental figures. Participants were then asked to score severity and frequency of abuses. “We found that being exposed to severe and frequent abuse doubles the risk of developing osteoarthritis. When we control for other variables, like other health risks, mental health risks, and sociodemographics, the risk is somewhat reduced but not by much — to around 1.5 times the risk,” reports Badley.
The Link Isn’t Just Related to Joints Damaged by Physical Violence
The reason for the connection isn’t totally clear but the answer does not lie simply on mechanical joint damage from physical trauma. “There is an emotional traumatic component to it,” Badley says. “It’s a mystery that has to be studied further. Severe or frequent childhood maltreatment can give rise to persistent biologic changes related to the immune and other systems of the body. Emerging theories about what might cause osteoarthritis suggest a potential role for immune or other systemic processes. Whether and to what extent there is a connection between these two stories is as yet unknown, but raises some intriguing questions.”
Link Between Abuse in Adulthood and OA Is Not Documented
“We don’t know yet if abuse that occurs in adulthood also increases OA risks. We need to study that,” says Badley.
Important Information to Pursue in Future Studies
With more than 15 percent of adults worldwide experiencing osteoarthritis, according to some research, “you can’t put it all down to being obese or other factors. What is it that causes it? And until we figure that out, we won’t have effective treatments. Currently there are no effective treatments or preventive measures. Our study is a bit of suggested evidence that osteoarthritis may have some kind of underlying biological systemic mechanism, which is an area for future research, to know what exactly this mechanism is,” says Badley.
Child Abuse: It Happens More Than You Think
Every year in the United States, more than 3.6 million referrals are made to child protection agencies, involving more than 6.6 million children. Four to seven American children die every day due to abuse and neglect, according to data from Childhelp. If you or someone you know is being abused, contact one of these resources:
National Child Abuse Hotline: 800-422-4453National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233RAINN, The National Sexual Assault Hotline: 800-656-4673
