Having parents who divorced when you were a child can increase your risk of having a stroke.
According to one study, older people of divorce are about 60% more likely to suffer a stroke than people of the same age whose parents stayed together.
Researchers looked at 13,205 people aged 65 and older and found that one in nine people whose parents divorced when they were children had suffered a stroke.
Prolonged stress from being around arguing and tense parents, and perhaps moving to a new home or school after they separate, could have a lasting effect on health, the authors suggest of the study.
Professor Esme Fuller-Thomson, lead author of the study from the University of Toronto, said: “We don’t know why people whose parents divorced when they were children have a higher prevalence of stroke. brain, but stress may have an impact on their quality of sleep.
“There is evidence that sleep disruptions during childhood can prepare people to develop insomnia later in life, which can increase the risk of stroke.”
“Prolonged stress from your parents’ separation can also permanently alter the body’s stress response, producing high levels of stress hormones like cortisol, which can cause inflammation in the body and increase the risk of stroke.”
“However, our study focused on older adults born in the 1950s or earlier, when divorce was rare and highly stigmatized.”
Experts said the stress of watching parents argue and potential lack of sleep could put children of divorce at higher risk of stroke.
In the UK, one person suffers a stroke every five minutes, with 100,000 people affected per year, while there are a total of 1.3 million stroke survivors.
The new study, published in the journal PLOS One, looked at data on older people in the United States who were surveyed about their health and lifestyle in 2022, and who were asked if they had suffered an accident cerebrovascular.
Among those whose parents had divorced before age 18, 11.2 percent reported having had a stroke.
This compares to just 7.5 percent of those whose parents stayed together.
The researchers took into account other factors that may increase the risk of stroke, including smoking and physical inactivity.
They also excluded people who had experienced childhood abuse from the analysis, so they could be sure it was divorce and not more traumatic family problems that were linked to a higher risk of stroke.
Taking all of these factors into account, the study found that people whose parents divorced during childhood were 61 percent more likely to have suffered a stroke.
Men and women were at equally high risk.
Among the most famous children of divorce are the children of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt: from left to right: Maddox, 23, Vivienne, 16, Zahara, 20, Shiloh, 18 and Knox, 16 , as well as Pax (not shown). ), 21
Stroke symptoms are usually remembered by this four-letter acronym, FAST. Stroke patients can often have their face tilted to one side, have difficulty raising both arms and have difficulty speaking, while time is of the essence as immediate treatment of a stroke Transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a minor stroke can significantly reduce the risk of stroke. major stroke much more fatal
Interestingly, the higher risk of having a stroke linked to being a child of divorce was comparable to the higher risk seen in people with diabetes – a disease that damages blood vessels , thereby increasing the risk of a blood clot forming which can cause a stroke.
People with diabetes were only 37 percent more likely to suffer a stroke than people without diabetes.
The rate of 11.2 percent of children of divorce who had a stroke was higher than the rate of 10.7 percent among people who themselves had divorced or separated from a partner.
The study states: “Parental divorce is a source of significant stress for many children, as evidenced by higher rates of emotional and behavioral disturbances and poorer mental health. »
But researchers point out that reduced divorce stigma could mean the link to stroke is less apparent among younger generations.