Medical expert of the article
New publications
Divorce increases the risk of future stroke in children
Last reviewed: 23.04.2024
All iLive content is medically reviewed or fact checked to ensure as much factual accuracy as possible.
We have strict sourcing guidelines and only link to reputable media sites, academic research institutions and, whenever possible, medically peer reviewed studies. Note that the numbers in parentheses ([1], [2], etc.) are clickable links to these studies.
If you feel that any of our content is inaccurate, out-of-date, or otherwise questionable, please select it and press Ctrl + Enter.
Researchers from the University of Toronto warn that the divorce of parents has a detrimental effect on the health of children, particularly boys.
The threat of stroke in men whose parents could not maintain family relationships is tripled compared to those who grew up in a full-fledged family.
As a result of long-term observations, scientists came to the conclusion that under-age boys who witnessed a disorder in the family, the risk of hemorrhage in the brain increases. In the case of women who survived the divorce of parents, this trend is not observed, the threat of stroke is not higher than those who were brought up in a full-fledged family.
"We were surprised by the connection between the increased risk of stroke and the relationship in the family, because we completely excluded the cases when children were subjected to violence by their parents. We expected that the main factors affecting the health of men would be a low socioeconomic status or behavior that poses a threat to health. However, all the risk factors that affect health have been discarded, including age, income, nationality, education, obesity, level of physical activity, etc. Families where parents abused alcohol or took drugs were not included in the study. Even after the "sweeps", the parental divorce was still the main cause of the risk of stroke in men, "said Esme Fuller-Thomson, lead author of the study.
Scientists can not give an accurate explanation of this relationship, but believe that this may be due to the regulation of the hormone cortisol in the body, which is associated with stress.
"It is possible that the stress brought about in connection with the divorce of parents can have biological consequences that in the future can affect the attitude of an adult man to a different kind of trouble and trouble," Fuller-Thomson said.
According to experts, unambiguous conclusions can not be drawn here. This problem should be studied in more detail, before you can say the exact cause of this relationship. Nevertheless, the preliminary results show that it is meaningful for the treating doctors to learn about their patients more, because information about the relationship of parents can help establish the causes of the disease and prescribe the right treatment.
[