Childhood trauma increases incidence of heart disease in Black women,Emory study finds

Traumatic childhoods and events physically alter the hearts of Black women, according to new research from Emory University

Emory Health Sciences

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Telisa Spikes, PhD, RN, Assistant Professor, Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing

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Credit: Emory University

New research from Emory University indicates that childhood trauma physically alters the hearts of Black women. 

The study, which examined the relationship between childhood exposure to trauma and vascular dysfunction among more than 400 Black adults in Atlanta ages 30 to 70, found that women who experienced childhood trauma had a worse vascular function, a preclinical marker of heart disease, while men had none. In addition, the findings show women may be more vulnerable to a larger cumulative stress burden, eliciting varying physiological stress responses. 

“Heart disease is still the number one killer of women,” says Telisa Spikes, RN, PhD, and lead author of the study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association. “We have already heard that stress kills, but until recently, few studies have investigated stressors, especially socially derived, and how they impact cardiovascular outcomes. We are beginning to quantify what type of effect stress has—and we are seeing now that stress does get under the skin to have a detrimental impact on cardiovascular health, especially for Black women,” adds Spikes, a professor at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing.

The study, conducted at the Morehouse-Emory Cardiovascular Center for Health Equity, revealed that childhood trauma in women can cause arterial stiffness, or an impaired artery function of the cardiovascular system, contributing to major cardiac events, such as stroke and heart attack. It also contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, and a malfunctioning small blood vessel system, which could damage tissues in the kidneys or brain. 

Numerous study participants reported experiencing childhood trauma, defined as distressing experiences that threaten the bodily, familial, or social safety of someone under the age of 18. For the study, researchers used a 27-item self-report questionnaire to assess participants’ experience with trauma in four domains: general trauma, and emotional, sexual, and physical abuse. 

While men and women reported similar levels of trauma in the study, men in the group did not experience any of the vascular dysfunction observed among women. Other similarities among men and women included marital status, education, and income levels, with almost half of the participants making less than $25,000 annually. Additionally, both cohorts had similar levels of blood pressure, glucose, triglycerides, diabetes, and hypertension. Despite the similarities, the prevalence of atrial stiffness among only female participants suggests that trauma has a different biological impact on women.

According to the study, women may experience stress differently because they are exposed to different forms of trauma, and it may be more chronic. For example, “Evidence shows that girls are more likely to be exposed to sexual abuse, whereas boys are more likely to report physical abuse.” Additionally, the study suggests women may be more vulnerable to a larger cumulative stress burden, eliciting varying physiological stress responses. It also adds that there was an overall higher prevalence of childhood maltreatment among Black populations, compounded by adverse social stressors, which may create an increased risk of resorting to unhealthy coping mechanisms. 

“What was an interesting takeaway was that both the men and women in this group had a low cardiovascular risk burden, meaning that it was a healthy population,” says Spikes, suggesting a correlation between arterial stiffness and traumatic experiences. “This exposure to trauma had a more consequential effect on the cardiovascular health of Black women over Black men, and that was very eye-opening. This may explain why we are seeing such an increased burden of high blood pressure in Black women, and why it’s happening earlier in life compared to women from other racial-ethnic backgrounds.”

Concluding the study, Spikes emphasizes that clinicians could consider adding a trauma-informed assessment as part of the patient intake process to help prevent and mitigate the risk of cardiovascular disease. 

“It is widely known that women process and appraise stressors differently and are more impacted by that neurobiological process,” says Spikes. “Depression and cardiovascular disease are synergistic—they go hand-in-hand. Mental wellbeing has a profound impact on physical health outcomes, and adding a psychosocial questionnaire for the patients could be an important clinical screening tool for risk assessment.” 

 

CITATION: Effect of Early Life Trauma Exposure on Vascular Dysfunction in Black Men and Women. (2024) T. Spikes, R. J. Thorpe, S. B. Dunbar, V. Michopoulos, J. Pelkmans, W. Wharton, Harris, L.K., Mehta, P.K., Searles, C.D., Pemu, P., Taylor, H., Quyyumi, A. Journal of American Heart Association.  (in-press). DOI: 10.1161/JAH3.10387

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Journal

Journal of the American Heart Association

DOI

10.1161/JAH3.10387 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

People

Article Title

Effect of Early Life Trauma Exposure on Vascular Dysfunction in Black Men and Women

Article Publication Date

25-Feb-2025

 

One in ten older South Asian immigrants in Canada have hypothyroidism

Older age, higher dietary intake of fat, and low consumption of fruits and vegetables also associated with higher odds of hypothyroidism.

University of Toronto

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Toronto, ON – A new study published this week in Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics Plus found that 10% of South Asian immigrants aged 45 and older in Canada had hypothyroidism. After adjustment for a wide range of sociodemographic characteristics and health behaviors, those who had immigrated from South Asia had 77% higher odds of hypothyroidism than those born in Canada.

“To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to identify a significantly higher odds of hypothyroidism among immigrants of South Asian descent,” says senior author Esme Fuller-Thomson, a Professor at Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW) and Director for the Institute of Life Course and Aging at the University of Toronto. “Given that previous studies have identified lower thyroid screening rates among immigrants in Canada, these results emphasize the need for increased screening efforts among South Asian immigrants.” 

When left untreated, hypothyroidism can lead to adverse health effects such as anemia, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, and neurologic dysfunction.

“An important area for future studies is the possibility that disproportionate rates of hypothyroidism among South Asian immigrants may be related to an endemic lack of iodine in their countries of origin,” says first author ZhiDi Deng, a medical student at the University of Alberta. “Iodine deficiency is a known contributor to the development of hypothyroidism.”  Unfortunately, the survey used in the current study did not contain information on participant’s iodine levels, so this hypothesis could not be explored.

In addition to immigrant status, the study identified diet as another important associated with hypothyroidism.  

“We found that those who had a lower dietary intake of fat, or individuals with higher dietary intake of omega-3 fatty acids, fruits and vegetables, and pulses and nuts, were significantly less likely to have hypothyroidism,” says co-author Karen M. Davison, a nutritional epidemiologist. “These findings shed light on a potential benefit of non-pharmacological, nutrition-based interventions in the prevention or management of hypothyroidism, although additional research is still needed.”

Increasing age was also identified as a factor that increased the likelihood of hypothyroidism.

“Individuals over the age of 75 had double the prevalence of hypothyroidism compared to those aged 45-55,” says co-author Andie MacNeil, a PhD student at University of Toronto’s FIFSW. “Autoimmune thyroiditis is common cause of hypothyroidism among older adults and may be a driver for this increased prevalence.”

This study was based on the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging and analyzed a sample of 26,036 Canadians between ages 45-85 years, of which 1,953 individuals had hypothyroidism. 

Although early recognition and treatment of hypothyroidism are important to minimize preventable health impacts, the symptoms of hypothyroidism, such as fatigue, weight gain, and depression, are non-specific and thus it can be difficult to identify the condition without blood tests, particularly among older adults.

“This research has identified some novel potential risk and preventative factors for hypothyroidism, opening avenues for future studies,” said Fuller-Thomson “We hope that the results from this research will promote increased screening for thyroid conditions among older adults, particularly among those of South Asian descent.”

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Journal

Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics Plus

DOI

10.1016/j.aggp.2025.100129 

Article Title

The Relationship between Immigrant Status, Cultural and Racial Background, and Hypothyroidism among Middle-Aged and Older Canadians: An Analysis of Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging Data.

Article Publication Date

24-Feb-2025

 

Young women suffering menopause symptoms in silence, study reveals

University of Virginia Health System

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More than half of women ages 30 to 35 are already suffering moderate to severe symptoms associated with menopause, yet most women are waiting decades before seeking treatment, new research from UVA Health and the Flo women’s health app reveals.

The research sheds important light on “perimenopause,” the transition period leading to menopause. Many women in perimenopause assume they’re too young to be suffering symptoms related to menopause, believing that symptoms won’t appear until they reach their 50s. But this mistaken belief, the researchers say, only causes women to suffer in silence.

“Physical and emotional symptoms associated with perimenopause are understudied and often dismissed by physicians. This research is important in order to more fully understand how common these symptoms are, their impact on women and to raise awareness amongst physicians as well as the general public,” said study co-author Jennifer Payne, MD, an expert in reproductive psychiatry at UVA Health and the University of Virginia School of Medicine. “Knowing this type of progression of perimenopause-associated symptoms can help both women and their doctors know what to expect as women enter the perimenopausal portion of their lives.”

Understanding Perimenopause

The new study analyzes symptoms self-reported by more than 4,400 American women ages 30 and older who responded to a survey conducted online and in the Flo app. Among women 30 to 35, 55.4% reported symptoms that meet the criteria for “moderate” or “severe” on the widely used Menopause Rating Scale (MRS). This number increased to 64.3% among women 36 to 40. Yet most women don’t seek treatment for menopause symptoms until they are 56 or older.

“We had a significant number of women who are typically thought to be too young for perimenopause tell us that they have high levels of perimenopause-related symptoms,” said Liudmila Zhaunova, PhD, director of science at Flo. “It’s important that we keep doing research to understand better what is happening with these women so that they can get the care they need.”

The researchers found that psychological symptoms, such as anxiety, depression and irritability, took hold long before physical symptoms. These symptoms reached their peak among women ages 41-45, then ebbed to their lowest in women ages 56 and over.

Physical problems such as sexual problems, bladder issues and vaginal dryness peaked in women 51 and older. These types of problems were lowest in women ages 30 to 35. 

Some of the symptoms most classically associated with menopause, such as hot flashes and sweating, peaked at ages 51 to 55 and were lowest among women 30 to 35.

The researchers hope their results will help fill what they call an “alarming gap” in our understanding of perimenopause, improving care and support for women approaching menopause.

“This study is important because it plots a trajectory of perimenopausal symptoms that tells us what symptoms we can expect when and alerts us to the fact that women are experiencing perimenopausal symptoms earlier than we expected,” Payne said.

Findings Published

The researchers have detailed their findings in npjWomen’s Health. The research team consisted of Adam C. Cunningham, Yella Hewings-Martin, Aidan P Wickham, Carley Prentice, Payne and Zhaunova. Payne is a consultant for Flo Health; a full list of the authors’ disclosures is included in the paper.

To keep up with the latest medical research news from UVA, subscribe to the Making of Medicine blog at http://makingofmedicine.virginia.edu.

 

Rebels of health care use technology to connect with clinicians, information, and each other

A new survey led by Susannah Fox, author of" Rebel Health: A Field Guide to the Patient-Led Revolution in Medical Care"

The MIT Press

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An image of the cover art to "Rebel Health." 

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Credit: Susannah Fox, The MIT Press, 2025.

Cambridge, MA – February 25, 2025 – The future of health care is being forged in the crucible of rare disease. A new survey led by Susannah Fox, author of Rebel Health: A Field Guide to the Patient-Led Revolution in Medical Care (The MIT Press),  finds that 15% of U.S. households are affected by rare disease or an undiagnosed illness. Their lives are characterized by extreme stress, often matched by their resourcefulness.

“People living with rare diseases push the edges of what is possible by using technology to connect with clinicians, with new information sources, and with each other,” says Susannah Fox, author of the report, Rare Disease in the U.S. 2025. “They demonstrate that ingenuity and being open to learning from peers can overcome the confusion and loneliness of an unusual diagnosis. Truly, there are people who would love to help you, if only they knew how to find you.”

The first probability-based national survey to measure the rare disease population has found that 8% of U.S. adults say they or someone they live with has ever been told by a doctor or other health professional that they have a rare disease (defined as affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the U.S.). Moreover, an additional 7% of U.S. adults living in non-rare-disease households say they or someone they live with is currently experiencing an illness that doctors or other health care professionals have not been able to diagnose. Together, they represent 15% of U.S. households, nearly 20 million, affected by rare disease or an undiagnosed illness.

Telehealth options are important to rare disease households: 63% of adults living in rare disease households have, in the past year, seen a doctor or other health care provider, such as a specialist, online or via a telehealth appointment, compared with 45% of those not living in a rare disease household. Twenty-nine percent have, in the past year, seen a mental health professional or therapist online or via a telehealth appointment, compared with 18% of survey respondents who do not live in a rare disease household.

Connections with health peers are a key resource: Half of survey respondents who reported living in a rare disease household say they have, in the past year, gone online to find other people who might have health concerns similar to their own, compared with 37% of those not living in a rare disease household.

AI as a research assistant: In addition, 38% of respondents living in a rare disease household have, in the past year, used an AI tool such as ChatGPT or Gemini to learn about a health condition or treatment options, compared with 21% of those not living in a rare disease household.

This study was conducted by SSRS, a Pennsylvania-based research firm, on its Opinion Panel Omnibus platform for Susannah Fox and ARCHANGELS, with support from the Association on Aging in New York. Respondents living in rare disease households are from every region of the U.S., with no significant differences among age groups, people with various levels of education or income, or political party identification.

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The SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus is a national, twice-per-month, probability-based survey. Data collection was conducted on two waves of the omnibus, from January 17 to January 21, 2025, and from February 7 to February 10, 2025, among a total sample of N = 2,012 respondents. The survey was conducted via web (n = 1,952) and telephone (n = 60) and administered in English (n = 2,012). More information about the SSRS Opinion Panel can be found at www.ssrs.com.

All SSRS Opinion Panel Omnibus data are weighted to represent the target population of U.S. adults ages 18 or older. The margin of error for total respondents is +/- 2.6 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.

Susannah Fox helps people navigate health and technology. She served as Chief Technology Officer for the US Department of Health and Human Services, where she led an open data and innovation lab. Prior to that, she was the entrepreneur-in-residence at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and directed the health portfolio at the Pew Research Center's Internet Project. The paperback edition of Rebel Health goes on sale from The MIT Press March 4th, 2025. For more information, visit her website at https://susannahfox.com/. 

 

 

Queen Mary scientists team up with solar startup Power Roll to take perovskite from concept to reality

The lightweight solar film could be installed almost anywhere

Queen Mary University of London

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Queen Mary University of London is starting a new partnership with Power Roll – an innovative solar startup – to take perovskite solar film from concept to reality. 

Perovskite has long been lauded as the next generation of solar power. It’s lightweight, flexible, and highly efficient – meaning it can be installed in places silicon cannot. 

Traditional silicon solar panels are heavy and rigid – which limits where you can put them. Almost 30% of commercial rooftops worldwide can’t support their weight. This helps explain why only 2% of buildings globally have solar panels – despite the sun giving earth enough energy in an hour to power the whole world for a year. 

Making silicon panels ironically comes with a major carbon footprint. Plus 91% are made in China – a supply chain risk in an era when governments are worried of depending upon rivals for energy. 

And yet silicon still dominates because manufacturing perovskite film has proved too hard to scale up. The challenge is that qualities which make perovskite so useful also make manufacturing a nightmare. Manufacturing defects are the main reason why perovskite has not yet achieved its potential. 

Power Roll use a combination of microgrooves and vacuum forming to make film which is less than a millimetre thick and 25 times lighter than even the lightest silicon panels. Creating such thin film at scale makes quality control especially tough. Each individual solar cell Power Roll makes is 1/50th of the width of a human hair – far too small to be inspected visually.  

The team at Queen Mary and Power Roll aim to crack this.  

Queen Mary scientists led by Dr Stoichko Dimitrov are developing in-situ optical analysis technology which Power Roll will integrate into their manufacturing equipment for quality control and R&D.  

Dr Stoichko Dimitrov comments: 

“The technology will analyse how light interacts with the material as it’s being produced, thereby providing essential data for monitoring and improving the quality of the film produced in real time. This will enable PowerRoll to scale up production and make perovskite film a reality.” 

Dr Stoichko Dimitrov was the first to develop portable in-situ optical analysis technology for enhancing the performance of printed photovoltaic perovskite materials. This partnership with PowerRoll will be the first time the technology has been applied in an industrial setting. Together, Queen Mary and Power Roll are demonstrating that optimisation can be achieved much faster than the standard R&D process. 

Dr Dave Barwick, Technical Manager at Power Roll, comments: 

“Quality control is the key to turning perovskite from concept to reality. We’re proud to be working with Queen Mary University of London to achieve this.” 

“We’re making solar that goes where other solar solutions can't, and we’re doing it without using rare and precious earth materials. Queen Mary’s expertise in optical analysis will help us scale up production by ensuring every microscopic solar cell is of the highest quality.” 

The rewards for the environment and economy could be substantial. Such a lightweight film can be placed almost anywhere. Power Roll estimates there are 12bn square meters of low-load-bearing rooftops in the UK which could be generating green electricity at less than a quarter of the current grid cost – yet aren’t because traditional silicon panels are too heavy. This represents a market in the region of £250bn.  

The project is funded by Innovate UK. Queen Mary is hiring a post-doctoral research associate to play a central role in translating advanced research into scalable production methods. 

 

Tree diversity increases carbon sequestration

University of Freiburg

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Forests with many tree species can store significantly more carbon than those with only one species: An international study led by the University of Freiburg, published in Global Change Biology, supports this finding using data from the world’s oldest tropical tree diversity experiment. Researchers found that forests planted with five tree species had substantially higher aboveground carbon stocks and greater fluxes between the carbon stores than monocultures. The results highlight the benefits of mixed-species forests for forest restoration initiatives that aim at mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration.

New data from the world’s longest-running experiment on tropical tree diversity

Growing evidence suggests that tree diversity enhances ecosystem functions like carbon sequestration. However, previous studies struggled to isolate this effect from other factors or focused on young plantations, making it uncertain whether the findings applied to older forests. To address this, the researchers analysed data from the world’s longest-running tropical tree diversity experiment, located in Panama. The Sardinilla experiment, established in 2001 on a former pasture, comprises 22 plots with one, two, three or five native tree species, which have reached a comparatively advanced stage of stand development due to the rapid growth of trees in the tropics. The team examined data related to a range of different carbon stocks and fluxes ranging from carbon in aboveground tree biomass to carbon in leaf litter and in mineral soil.

The scientists found that planted forests with five tree species had significantly higher aboveground carbon stocks and greater carbon fluxes than those with only one species. For instance, the species-rich forests captured 57% more carbon in aboveground tree biomass than monospecific forests. However, there were no differences in carbon stocks and fluxes belowground.

Diverse forests sequester more carbon – even through hurricanes and droughts

Remarkably, the positive tree diversity effect on aboveground carbon stocks strengthened over time, despite repeated climatic extreme events such as a severe El Niño-driven drought and a hurricane that hit the experiment. “This is important, because in the face of climate change, the long-term carbon balance of forests will depend largely on their stability to disturbances. Diverse forests exhibit greater ecological stability and the risk that the stored carbon is released back to the atmosphere is lower than in monocultures”, said Dr. Florian Schnabel, first author of the study, forest scientist at the University of Freiburg’s Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources, and head of the Sardinilla experiment.

More tree species, greater climate benefits

According to the researchers, these results show that tree mixtures should be preferred over monocultures in projects that plant new forests to sequester carbon. However, the team also emphasises that it is important to remain realistic about the potential of new forests to contribute towards mitigating climate change. “The average yearly net CO2 uptake of the planted forests was 5.7 tonnes CO2 equivalents per ha and year. It would thus need one-year tree growth on 11 ha of this type of forest to compensate for the emissions of a single one-way flight between Frankfurt and Panama City”, said Dr. Catherine Potvin, head of the Sardinilla experiment until 2024 and co-initiator of the study, from McGill University in Montréal, Canada.

• Original publication: Schnabel, F., Guillemot, J., Barry, K.E., Brunn, M., Cesarz, S., Eisenhauer, N., Gebauer, T., Guerrero-Ramirez, N.R., Handa, I.T., Madsen, C., Mancilla, L., Monteza, J., Moore, T., Oelmann, Y., Scherer-Lorenzen, M., Schwendenmann, L., Wagner, A., Wirth, C., Potvin, C. (2025). Tree diversity increases carbon stocks and fluxes above- but not belowground in a tropical forest experiment. In: Global Change Biology. DOI: 10.1111/gcb.70089
  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/gcb.70089
• Dr. Florian Schnabel is a forest scientist at the Faculty of Environment and Natural Resources at the University of Freiburg and head of the Sardinilla experiment. His research focuses on the relationships between biodiversity and ecosystem functions of forests, sustainable forest management in the face of global change and the effects of climate extremes on forests. He is an Associate Investigator of the Future Forests Cluster of Excellence initiative.
• The Sardinilla experiment is part of TreeDivNet, the world's largest network of tree diversity experiments.

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DOI

10.1111/gcb.70089 

 

Longest-runout undersea sediment flows analysed in unprecedented detail

Scientists unravel the dynamics of powerful deep-sea turbidity currents

Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel (GEOMAR)

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Turbidity currents are an important natural process that often goes unnoticed: these powerful currents beneath the ocean surface carve deep submarine canyons, create huge sediment deposits and can damage submarine cables and pipelines. Although the phenomenon has been known for about 100 years, its high-energy nature has made it almost impossible to measure directly - any instruments placed in its path would be destroyed by its immense force, much like avalanches on land.

Now, an international team led by GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel and Durham University (UK) has developed a new method to monitor these flows from a safe distance. Using ocean-bottom seismometers - normally deployed to study earthquakes - the researchers have, for the first time, revealed the internal structure of these massive currents. Their findings are published today in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment.

From a distance: Ocean-bottom seismometers detect the longest-runout sediment flows ever recorded on Earth

“Turbidity currents are the dominant mechanism transporting sediment and organic carbon from coastal areas into the deep sea, just as rivers transport sediment over land,” explains Dr Pascal Kunath, seismologist at GEOMAR and lead author of the study. “However, unlike rivers, they are among the least understood processes of sediment transport.”

To address this knowledge gap, the team deployed seismometers in October 2019 in the Congo Canyon and Channel off the west coast of Africa - one of the largest and deepest submarine canyons in the world. The instruments were placed several kilometres outside the canyon-channel axis, beyond the destructive reach of the currents, allowing them to record the seismic signals generated by flow turbulence and associated sediment transport.

Using this method, the researchers tracked two turbidity currents moving at speeds of 5 to 8 metres per second (m/s) over a distance of 1,100 kilometres - from the mouth of the Congo River through the Congo deep-sea fan and canyon system. These are the longest-runout sediment flows ever recorded. The flows also damaged several submarine cables in January and March 2020, disrupting internet and data communications in West Africa during a particularly critical phase of the early COVID-19 pandemic.

Rethinking turbidity current dynamics

“Our results show that the dense front of these canyon-flushing turbidity currents is not a single continuous flow, but consists of many pulses, each lasting between five and 30 minutes,” says Kunath. Remarkably, the fastest pulses occur up to 20 kilometres behind the front. These surges eventually overtake the leading edge, suppling sediments and the momentum needed to sustain the flow over long distances.

This finding challenges previous assumptions that the highest velocities occur at the flow front. Instead, the new data suggest that turbulent mixing with seawater or other retarding forces significantly influence the behaviour of these flows over long distances.

New possibilities for monitoring turbidity currents

Beyond introducing an innovative remote sensing method for monitoring turbidity currents, this study deepens our understanding of how these powerful canyon-flushing turbidity currents function. By analysing their internal dynamics in detail, scientists can better predict their impact on seafloor infrastructure and refine models of sediment and carbon transport in the ocean.

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Journal

Nature Communications

DOI

10.1038/s43247-025-02137-z 

Method of Research

Observational study

Article Title

Ocean-bottom seismometers reveal surge dynamics in Earth’s longest-runout sediment flows

Article Publication Date

25-Feb-2025