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As if abused children didn't have it hard enough.  A new study is saying that their abuse may lead to " long-term hormone impairment that raises the risk of developing obesity, diabetes or other metabolic disorders in adulthood," according to newswise.com. “ “The data suggest that childhood adversity places stress on the endocrine system, leading to impairment of important hormones that can contribute to abdominal obesity well into adulthood.  This study helps illuminate why people who have dealt with childhood adversity face a higher risk of developing excess belly fat and related health conditions,” the Web site quotes one of the study’s authors, Christos S. Mantzoros, MD, DSc, PhD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the VA Boston Healthcare System, both affiliated with Harvard Medical School in Boston, MA.  “What we are seeing is a direct correlation between childhood adversity and hormone impairment, over and above the impact abuse or neglect may have on ...

Every year in the U.S., over 66,000 children are physically abused,   almost 10% of them sexually. Over 1,500 of them died ,  in 2010. And almost 80% were under 4. Now experts say that, while a person who suffers the normal ups and downs of life usually gets his bounce back within two years, the time it takes someone who's been abused?  A lot longer. Newswise.com reports that, in a recent study of adults followed for 12 years, three-quarters of those who experienced trauma or hardship as adults recovered from depression within 18 months to two years.  But those who suffered them earlier in life were not as resilient. “Early adversities have far-reaching consequences. The average time to recovery from depression was 9 months longer for adults who had been physically abused during their childhood and about 5 months longer for those whose parents had addiction problems,” says lead author Esme Fuller-Thomson, Sandra Rotman Endowed Chair in the University of Toro...

Smoker? Victim of child abuse?  If you're the latter, the former is probably you. Researchers for some time have speculated that there's a link between smoking and child abuse. Now, a new study finds "a connection not between whether or not an abused child will ever begin smoking, but to how much they smoke once they do start," according to newswise.com. "In other words, people are as likely to smoke whether or not they were sexually or physically abused, but they’re inclined to smoke more if they were abused and have a history of smoking," Todd Herrenkohl, a professor in the University of Wisconsin (UW) School of Social Work told newswise.com. The study, which was done by UW, found that "Boys who had experienced either (sexual or physical) abuse and were smokers, smoked more than those who hadn't been abused as a child." For girls who smoked, however, "Only those who had been sexually abused smoked more as adolescents." And...

Next time you're sick, don't call your doctor.  Consult your monitor. That's what's happening to medicine , writes Beth Carter at smartplanet.com, and it's completely transforming healthcare.  No longer do you need to see your doctor for a physical.  Now electronic monitors can track it, along with your fitness level, calories burned, heart rate and a brand-new application for detecting biomarkers in your blood can tell your doctor whether you need more potassium in your diet. Called InsideTracker, "By using insights drawn from blood work, the service helps individuals design his or her optimal diet and exercise program," Carter explains. As Carter notes, she recently learned that, while all her levels were fine, she was doing so much exercise she needed more potassium in her diet.  There's probably no way a doctor could tell you that without running a bunch of (expensive) tests, and who would even think to test that, anyway? So InsideTracker c...

I found this shocking.  But a new study has found that bullying by a sibling is every bit as bad -- maybe even worse -- than by a schoolmate. And it's linked to increased depression, anxiety and anger among victimized kids and teens, according to Michelle Healy at USA Today. She writes, "Although peer bullying has increasingly become a recognized problem and the focus of preventive efforts, sibling bullying has historically been viewed as 'benign and normal and even beneficial' for a child's social development and ability 'to learn to handle aggression in other relationships,' according to the study," which was featured in the July issue of the journal Pediatrics , published online today. I came from a family where the siblings banded together against our dysfunctional family so this is something not that well-known to me. But I've seen it in other families and what's been most disturbing is that the child being bullied very often idoliz...