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posted by mrpg on Saturday July 21 2018, @03:43AM   Printer-friendly
from the be-nice-to-kids dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

Childhood adversity permanently alters the peripheral and central immune systems, increasing the sensitivity of the body's immune response to cocaine, reports a study by researchers at the IRCCS Santa Lucia Foundation and University of Rome "La Sapienza," Italy.

The study, published in Biological Psychiatry, showed that exposure to psychosocial stress early in life altered the structure of immune cells and inflammatory signals in mice and led to increased drug-seeking behavior. Exposure to early psychosocial stress in mice, or a difficult childhood in humans, increased the immune response to cocaine in adulthood, revealing a shared mechanism in the role of immune response in the effects of early life stress on cocaine sensitivity in mice and humans.

The findings help explain why as many as 50 percent of people who experience childhood maltreatment develop addiction problems. The results in mice and humans suggest that exposure to adversity during childhood triggers activation of the immune system, leading to permanent changes that sensitize the immune system and increase susceptibility to the effects of cocaine in adulthood.

-- submitted from IRC


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  • (Score: 2) by legont on Saturday July 21 2018, @04:49AM

    by legont (4179) on Saturday July 21 2018, @04:49AM (#710271)

    Perhaps, to engage in such clearly pointless behavior, such as revolution or inventing, one really has to be immune challenged.

    --
    "Wealth is the relentless enemy of understanding" - John Kenneth Galbraith.
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