Family Member Deaths in Childhood Predict Systemic Inflammation in Late Life

ABSTRACT

Biological and epidemiological evidence has linked early-life psychosocial stress with late-life health, with inflammation as a potential mechanism. We report here the association between familial death in childhood and adulthood and increased levels of high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of systemic inflammation. The Cache County Memory Study is a prospective study of persons initially aged 65 and older in 1995. In 2002, there were 1,955 persons in the study with data on CRP (42.3 percent male, mean [SD] age = 81.2 [5.8] years), linked with objective data on family member deaths. Using logistic regression, high (> 10 mg/L) versus low (≤ 10 mg/L) CRP was regressed on cumulative parental, sibling, spouse, and offspring deaths during childhood and during early adulthood, adjusted for family size in each period (percentage family depletion; PFD). Findings revealed PFD during childhood to be significantly associated with CRP (OR = 1.02, 95% CI [1.01, 1.04]). Individuals with two or more family deaths were 79 percent more likely to have elevated CRP than those with zero family deaths (OR = 1.79, 95% CI [1.07, 2.99]). Early adulthood PFD was not related to CRP. This study demonstrates a link between significant psychosocial stress in early life and immune-inflammatory functioning in late life, and suggests a mechanism explaining the link between early-life adversity and late-life health.

Acknowledgments

We wish to thank the Huntsman Cancer Foundation for database support provided to the Pedigree and Population Resource of the HCI, University of Utah. We also thank Alison Fraser and Diana Lane Reed for valuable assistance in managing the data. We also acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals from the Cache County Memory Study whose activities have helped to ensure the success of the project: Kathleen Welsh-Bohmer, Ph.D., JoAnn T. Tschanz, Ph.D., Cara Brewer, B.A., Tony Calvert, B.Sc., Carol Leslie, M.S., Roxane Pfister, M.S., Georgiann Sanborn, M.S., Nancy Sassano, Ph.D., Heidi Wengreen, Ph.D., R.D., James Wyatt, and Peter P. Zandi, Ph.D., M.P.H.

Funding

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants T32-AG000029 and AG022095 (Early Life Conditions, Survival and Health; Smith PI). Partial support for all datasets within the UPDB was provided by the HCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA42014 from the National Cancer Institute.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grants T32-AG000029 and AG022095 (Early Life Conditions, Survival and Health; Smith PI). Partial support for all datasets within the UPDB was provided by the HCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30 CA42014 from the National Cancer Institute.