[EQ] The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health across the Lifespan

The Effects of Childhood Stress on Health across the Lifespan

 

Jennifer S. Middlebrooks,.Natalie C. Audage

Atlanta (GA): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2008

 

Available online PDF [18p.] at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncipc/pub-res/pdf/Childhood_Stress.pdf

 

“….Stress is an inevitable part of life. Human beings experience stress early, even before they are born. A certain amount of stress is normal and neces-sary for survival. Stress helps children develop the skills they need to cope with and adapt to new and potentially threatening situations throughout life. Support from parents and/or other concerned caregivers is necessary for children to learn how to respond to stress in a physically and emotion-ally healthy manner.

 

The beneficial aspects of stress diminish when it is severe enough to over-whelm a child’s ability to cope effectively. Intensive and prolonged stress can lead to a variety of short- and long-term negative health effects. It can disrupt early brain development and compromise functioning of the nervous and immune systems. In addition, childhood stress can lead to health problems later in life including alcoholism, depression, eating disorders, heart disease, cancer, and other chronic diseases.

 

The purpose of this publication is to summarize the research on childhood stress and its implications for adult health and well-being. Of particular interest is the stress caused by child abuse, neglect, and repeated exposure to intimate partner violence (IPV). We hope this publication provides practitioners, especially those working in violence prevention, with ideas about how to incorporate this information into their work….”

 

 

 

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
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[EQ] The Duty of States to Assist Other States in Need: Ethics, Human Rights, and International Law

The Duty of States to Assist Other States in Need: Ethics, Human Rights, and International Law 

 

LAWRENCE O. GOSTIN - Georgetown University Law Center - O'Neill Institute for National and Global Health Law; Georgetown University Law Center

ROBERT ARCHER - International Council on Human Rights Policy

Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, Vol. 35, p. 526, 2007

Georgetown Law and Economics Research Paper No. 7 

 

Available online at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1095769

 

“……This article deals with a foreign policy question of extraordinary importance: What responsibilities do States have to provide economic and technical assistance to other states that have high levels of need affecting the health and life of their citizens? The question is important for a variety of reasons. There exist massive inequalities in health globally, with the result that poorer countries shoulder a disproportionate burden of disease and premature death. While poor countries have by far the greatest ongoing health needs, they also have the least capacity to meet those needs. In addition to the pervasive and debilitating effects of endemic disease, developing countries are likely to suffer much more from the effects of acute health hazards, ranging from natural disasters and dislocations to emerging infectious diseases.

 

Certainly, governments and philanthropic organizations have responded to highly visible natural disasters, droughts, and famines - at least while the issue remains salient in the media. And there has been increased international assistance for high-profile health threats such as AIDS and pandemic influenza. Even factoring in these new investments, most OECD countries have not come close to fulfilling their pledges to donate 0.7% of Gross National Income per annum.

 

The question then arises, if states have the capacity to assist less developed states (while continuing to fulfill their obligations to the health of their own citizens) to what extent do they have a well-defined legal or ethical responsibility to do so? We claim that States have a responsibility to help, derived from international law, political commitments, ethical values, and national interest. However, international law does not enable states to operationalize this responsibility in specific cases and in a transparent manner. As a result, transnational cooperation by states tends to be ineffectual and inconsistent - although states can and sometimes do act effectively when ethical and legal responsibilities and commitments align with self-interest. ….”

 

 

 

 

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
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“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is".Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
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[EQ] Happiness And Health: Lessons-And Questions-For Public Policy

Happiness And Health: Lessons—And Questions—For Public Policy

 

Carol Graham, senior fellow in the Economic Studies Program at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C., and a professor of public policy at the University of Maryland in College Park

Health Affairs, January-February Issue - Volume 27, No. 1 - 2008

 

Website: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/27/1/72

 

PDF [12p.] at: http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/reprint/27/1/72

 

“…….This paper reviews the happiness-health relationship from an economics perspective, highlighting the role of adaptation. People’s expectations for health standards influence their reported health and associated happiness, a finding that roughly mirrors the Easterlin paradox in income and happiness.

Research on unhappiness and obesity shows that norms and stigma vary a great deal across countries and cohorts, mediating the related well-being costs. Better understanding this variance and its effects on incentives for addressing the condition is important to policy design. More generally, the paper discusses how happiness surveys can—and cannot—inform public health policy…”

“….PROLOGUE: Throughout the centuries, human happiness and its causes have been a central concern to clerics, philosophers, psychologists, and therapists of various kinds. Given the subject matter, some might be surprised to see economists dipping their toes into these waters, viewing them as Johnny-come-latelys or even as gatecrashers—economics, after all, is sometimes known as the "dismal science." But economists have their own rich tradition in this area, and their discipline is, in fact, rooted in "moral science," in which happiness plays a central role. Moreover, as "queen of the social sciences," economics brings with it insights from myriad aspects of social life and a vast array of mathematical tools for exploring relationships between self-reported happiness and just about anything else one can think of….”

 

 

 

 

 

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This message from the Pan American Health Organization, PAHO/WHO, is part of an effort to disseminate
information Related to: Equity; Health inequality; Socioeconomic inequality in health; Socioeconomic
health differentials; Gender; Violence; Poverty; Health Economics; Health Legislation; Ethnicity; Ethics;
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“Materials provided in this electronic list are provided "as is".Unless expressly stated otherwise, the findings
and interpretations included in the Materials are those of the authors and not necessarily of The Pan American
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