Childhood Sexual Abuse Spurs Heart Attacks in Men: Study

A new study reveals men who go through childhood sexual abuse are thrice as likely to suffer a heart attack than men who had not experienced similar abuse as children.

Investigators from the University of Toronto examined gender-specific differences in a representative sample of 5,095 men and 7,768 women aged 18 years and above, drawn from the US Centre for Disease Control's 2010 Behavioural Risk Factor Surveillance Survey.

Study Finds Sexual Abuse Rampant Among Teens in Recent Years
90 per cent of teenagers, aged 12-18, have been victims of some level of sexual violence

The researchers found no association between childhood sexual abuse and heart attacks among women, the journal "Child Abuse & Neglect" reports.

A total of 57 men and 154 women reported being sexually abused by someone close to them before they turned 18 and 377 men and 285 women said that a doctor, nurse or other health professional had diagnosed them with a heart attack, according to a Toronto statement.

The study was co-authored by four graduate students at the University of Toronto, Raluca Bejan, John Hunter, Tamara Grundland and Sarah Brennenstuhl.

Hospital for �special� People Under Investigations for Sexual Abuse
There are allegations of sexual abuse of and by patients at Muckamore Abbey Hospital, which ‘cares’ for people with learning and mental disabilities.

"Men who reported they were sexually abused during childhood were particularly vulnerable to having a heart attack later in life," says Esme Fuller-Thomson, professor at the University of Toronto's Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work, who led the study.

"We had expected that the abuse-heart attack link would be due to unhealthy behaviours in sexual abuse survivors, such as higher rates of alcohol use or smoking, or increased levels of general stress and poverty in adulthood when compared to non-abused males," adds Fuller-Thomson.

Men With Disabilities at High Risk for Sexual Abuse
Women with disabilities are more likely to be sexually assaulted than women without disabilities, previous studies have shown.

Co-author and doctoral candidate Sarah Brennenstuhl notes, "It is unclear why sexually abused men, but not women, experienced higher odds of heart attack. It is possible that females adopt different coping strategies than males as women are more likely to get the support and counselling needed to deal with their sexual abuse," adds Brennenstuhl.

Source-IANS

Indonesian Women Claim They Had to Sleep With Their Boss to Get Salary
Three Indonesian women, working for the owner of a catering company in Sungai Siput, say they have been enduring sexual abuse for past two years for their salaries.