HHS HealthBeat (August 1, 2012)

Childhood neglect, adult skin cancer

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Researchers say abused and neglected children are more likely to have skin cancer as adults, and the researchers think they know why.

Scientists at Ohio State University looked at data on past-year life stresses and childhood relations with parents among 91 people who had basal cell skin cancer. Researcher Chris Fagundes:

“If they have these recent life stressors in the past year, and if they were maltreated as a child, this combination had a particularly detrimental effect.”

The researchers suspect childhood stresses weakened the immune systems for life, making them less able to fight off these kinds of cancers.

The study in Archives of General Psychiatry was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

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HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: July 31, 2012