I often listen to TED presentations while I am folding laundry. I can just put one or two on and go about my business. Sometimes they are just interesting tidbits, but other times they really make me think. It has been over a week since I listened to the TED on Adverse Childhood Experiences.
The idea behind it is that children who are exposed to persistent adverse conditions will have a drastically increased risk of cancer, heart disease and diabetes as well as mental disorders. Large scale studies have followed children through adult hood and what is found is that even if these children lead "normal" lifestyles, they are still physically at risk for the major disease that kill most of our country.
The basic theory is that all humans are born with the innate ability to rev up for fight or flight in dangerous or adverse situations. This means that our adrenal glands are activated, our heart races, our breathing is faster, and our senses heightened should we need to defend ourselves or run very quickly. This is meant to be a less often used part of our genetic make up. Children who live in a household with parents or family members who have mental illness or substance abuse can activate this fight or flight on a daily basis. The activation of these defense mechanisms causes increased stress on the body, more so than is healthy, and can cause developmental problems as well as social and physical problems.
Being a nurse this is very interesting to me. How many people fall through the cracks because the right questions have not been asked or they have not been looked at outside of the possibility of mental disorder? It is also interesting to me because I am a high risk person according to my ACE score which is 7 out of 10.
My own health scheme starts to make some sense. I had Rheumatoid Arthritis by the age of 18, my thyroid went bad by 33, and I started having hypertension by age 40. I suffer from anxiety that sometimes develops into panic attacks. I had an eating disorder in high school and suffered from periods of severe depression.
In my household I grew up with a mother who was herself abused and often verbally abusive to me. She was an alcoholic and a drug addict. My stepfather was an untreated bi-polar. I never knew what I was going to get on any given day.
I am in no way feeling sorry for myself, but I did wonder why I had so many health problems when I did not live that kind of reckless life my parents did. Knowing this information does reinforce the need to reduce the stress in my life. It also explains maybe why it is so hard for me to relax and why I may have unconsciously chosen to place myself in high stress situations. My body got used to high levels of adrenaline all the time. I was used to being in fight or flight mode persistently.
I am posting this because I hope the medical community starts to look at patients differently. How could we better serve our community? How could we change the face of prevention in light of this knowledge? It is something to think about.
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