Childhood Adversities, including Parental Alcoholism, Play a Role in Peptic Ulcers

New research shows that childhood adversities such as long-lasting financial difficulties, serious family conflicts, and a seriously or chronically ill family member have a predictive role in peptic ulcer. Adjusting for smoking, heavy drinking, stress, and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) use had no further influence.

Science Daily reports that smoking and NSAID use are the most important risk factors for peptic ulcer, and alcohol intake may also play a role in the development of gastric ulcers. Psychological stress can also have an impact on the onset and course of ulcer disease. However, very little is known as to whether childhood adversities involving financial problems, conflicts in the family, problems with alcohol, and matters of personal security are associated with peptic ulcer.

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Parents who Accommodate OCD Behaviors May Worsen the Condition

A recent study shows that parents who accommodate obsessive-compulsive behavior in their children may actually be triggering more serious symptoms—but cognitive behavioral therapy may help in reversing the symptoms.

In the study conducted by researchers at the University of Florida, 49 children ages 6 to 18 with OCD took part in 14 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy with their parents, where emphasis was placed on helping parents reduce “family accommodation,” or trying to soothe their child’s anxiety by offering comfort, giving the child objects, or even doing tasks for them like homework.

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Allowing Children to Drink Can Lead to Binge Drinking

Legal drinking ages are as varied as the states and countries that impose them. In the United Kingdom, you can legally give alcohol to any child over 5 years old, but you cannot purchase alcohol until you are 16 (for beer, wine, or cider) or 18 (for hard liquor). In Spain, you must be 14 to drink alcohol and 16 to purchase it; in Italy and Greece, there is no age limit for drinking alcohol but you must be 16 or 17, respectively, to buy it. In Muslim countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran, it is completely illegal to drink or purchase alcohol, and offenders are punished with lashes. And in some states in India, one cannot drink or purchase alcohol until the age of 25.

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