Cardiovascular health of Finnish war evacuees 60 years later
Open accessAbstract
BACKGROUND: Early life experiences might have long-term effects on health. AIM: To assess prevalence of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life among individuals exposed to traumatic separation in early childhood due to World War II. METHODS: Of the participants of the Helsinki Birth Cohort 1934-44 Study (n=2003), 320 had been evacuated abroad to temporary foster care in childhood. The remaining participants served as controls. The mean age at evacuation was 4.8 (SD=2.4) years and the mean duration of the evacuation was 1.7 (SD=1.0) years. RESULTS: Cardiovascular morbidity was higher among the former war evacuees (14.7% versus 7.9%; odds ratio (OR)=2.0, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.4-2.9; P<0.001). A similar difference in prevalence of type 2 diabetes was observed (19.7% versus 14.8%; OR=1.4, 95% CI 1.1-1.9, P=0.025). The former war evacuees were also more likely to be hypertensive (P<0.05). The effects on morbidity were not explained by age at testing or socio-economic circumstances in childhood or adulthood. CONCLUSION: Early life traumatic events may extend lifelong effects on health. This study is among the first to show that early life trauma predicts higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes in late adulthood, in a longitudinal clinical study setting.
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Numerous studies have shown a relationship between cardiovascular disease and restricted growth before birth.
“Numerous studies have shown a relationship between cardiovascular disease and restricted growth before birth (5, 182, 428).”
From Placental Origins of Chronic Disease (2016) · cites this paper as [5]
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References 34 · Cited by 116
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Dong M, Giles WH, Felletti VJ, Dube SR, Williams JE, Chapman DP, et al. Insights into causal pathways for ischemic heart disease. Circulation. 2004;110:1761Á6.
- Authors
- Alastalo, H., Räikkönen, K., Pesonen, A.-K., Osmond, C., Barker, D. J. P., Kajantie, E., Heinonen, K., Forsén, T. J., & Eriksson, J. G.
- Affiliations
- University of Helsinki (FI)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- ORCID
- Venue
- Annals of Medicine
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-01
- Volume
- 41
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 66-72
- ISSN
- 0785-3890 (ISSN-L)
- 1365-2060
- OpenAlex
- W1993975304
- Cited by
- 116
- References
- 34
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 2 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 8 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 14 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 8
- FWCI
- 5.99
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Annals of Medicine (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- STM:n Hallinnonalan avoin julkaisuarkisto (Julkari) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- Foundation for Cardiovascular Research
- National Institute for Health and Care Research (NF-SI-0508-10082)
- British Heart Foundation
- Juho Vainion Säätiö
- Signe ja Ane Gyllenbergin Säätiö
- Sydäntutkimussäätiö
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Birth, Development, and Health
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child Abuse and Trauma
- Social Sciences › Health › Health disparities and outcomes
- Keywords
- early trauma, cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension, old age, long-term health effects, World War II, foster care
- MeSH terms
- Anxiety, Separation, Cardiovascular Diseases, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Emigration and Immigration, Female, Finland, Follow-Up Studies, Health Status, Humans, Hypertension, Life Change Events, Longitudinal Studies, Male, Maternal Deprivation, Middle Aged, Paternal Deprivation, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Time Factors, Prevalence, World War II
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