A family riven by divorce or separation could triple the risk of a child developing psoriasis later in life, a new study says.
The severe stress caused by such family upheaval might tax a child's immune system in ways that increase their chances of this autoimmune skin disease marked by rapid cell growth that causes scaly, itchy rashes, researchers said.
"Our results show -- to our knowledge -- a previously unreported fact that very stressful life factors early in life influence the immune system and increase the risk for autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis," said lead researcher Johnny Ludvigsson, a professor at Linkoping University in Sweden.
"There is no simple advice to avoid these factors, but everything that can be done should be done to protect young children from stressful life factors that threaten their security and emotional well-being," Ludvigsson said in a news release.
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