Early life stress may predict cardiovascular disease

Early life stress could be a risk factor for cardiovascular disease in adulthood, researchers report. "We think early life stress increases sensitivity to a hormone known to increase your blood pressure and increases your cardiovascular risk in adult life," said Dr. Jennifer Pollock, biochemist in the Vascular Biology Center at the Medical College of Georgia and corresponding author on the study published online in Hypertension. The studies in a proven model of chronic behavioral stress – separating rat pups from their mother three hours daily for two weeks – showed no long-term impact on key indicators of cardiovascular disease such as increased blood pressure, heart rate or inflammation in blood vessel walls.