Loading...
Although adverse events during childhood (ACEs) have been repeatedly associated with various psychiatric and medical illnesses, little attention has been paid to their possible association with autoimmune diseases. To learn more, investigators in an ongoing study of ACEs and health focused on hospitalizations for autoimmune disease in the records of 15,357 adults (mean age, 56) between 1995 and 2005.
ACEs included physical, emotional, and sexual abuse and household dysfunction, e.g., domestic violence, substance abuse, mental illness, parental divorce, and criminality (exposure was quantified on a scale of 0–8). The 21 autoimmune disorders were categorized as T1 helper (Th1) disorders (e.g., idiopathic myocarditis or insulin-dependent diabet…