Studies have shown that childhood trauma may lead to chronic illness in adulthood. Even with this information available, most medical schools elect not to incorporate these findings into their curriculum.
“But shouldn’t physicians consider the whole patient–body and mind…” Donna Jackson Nakazawa asks in her article, Childhood trauma leads to lifelong chronic illness–so why isn’t the medical community helping patients?
Nakazawa lost her father at age twelve and began experiencing health issues at fourteen. These increased and followed her throughout adulthood. Finally, at 51, a physician mentioned various studies that suggested childhood trauma could lead to cancer, heart disease and autoimmune disease later in life. Two-thirds of Americans report some form of childhood trauma. Could we be overlooking a huge factor in adult illness, one that is treatable or even preventable earlier in life?