Children From Violent Homes Have It In Their DNA
How's this for a scary prognosis? Family violence leaves genetic traces. Newswise.com reports that a new Tulane University School of Medicine study finds that the more fractured families are by domestic violence or trauma, the more likely that children will bear the scars down to their DNA. Researchers discovered that children in homes affected by domestic violence, suicide or the incarceration of a family member have significantly shorter telomeres, which is a cellular marker of aging, than those in stable households. Those with shorter telomeres die younger. Telomeres are the caps at the end of chromosomes that keep them from shrinking when cells replicate. Shorter telomeres are linked to higher risks for heart disease, obesity, cognitive decline, diabetes, mental illness and poor health outcomes in adulthood. “Family-level stressors, such as witnessing a family member get hurt, created an environment that affected the DNA within the cells of t...