Primal Health Databank: Study
| Entry No: | 1055 |
| Title: | Prenatal loss of father during World War One is predictive of a reduced lifespan in adulthood. |
| Author(s): | Todd N, Valleron AJ, et al |
| Reference: | Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Apr 18;114(16):4201-4206. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1617911114. Epub 2017 Apr 4. |
| Place of Study: | France |
| Abstract: | Thanks to unique French legislation established in 1917 for war orphans and children of disabled soldiers, the authors were able to study the adult mortality of individuals born in 1914-1916 whose fathers were killed during World War 1. Vital information and socio-demographic characteristics were extracted manually from historical civil registers for 5,671 children born between 1 August 1914 and 31 December 1916 who were granted the status of "pupille de la Nation" (orphan of the Nation). The authors used a database comprising 1.4 million deceased soldiers to identify war orphans and collect information on their fathers and then paired each orphan with a nonorphan from the same birth register matched for date of birth, sex, and mother's age at the infant's birth. Mortality between ages 31 and 99 y was analyzed for 2,365 orphan/nonorphan pairs. The mean loss of adult lifespan of orphans who had lost their father before birth was 2.4 y (95% CI: 0.7, 3.9 y) and was the result of increased mortality before age 65 y. Adult lifespan was not reduced when the father's death occurred after the infant's birth. These results support the notion that intrauterine exposure to a major psychological maternal stress can affect human longevity. |
| Keyword(s): | emotional state in pregnancy, fatherless children, life expectancy, mental diseases, prenatal stress, schizophrenia, war orphan |
| Discussion: | explore other studies via the keyword "war orphan" |
| See Also: | No related entries mentioned for this entry |
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