PEOPLE suffering stress or trauma in childhood face higher risks of chronic illness in adulthood, according to new analysis today.

Researchers at the University of Dundee found that each adverse childhood experience — which can include abuse, neglect, household dysfunction, bullying, famine or war — increases the chance of multiple chronic conditions later on by 12.9 per cent.

The association has long been noted, but the team from the university’s School of Medicine used a meta-analysis of 25 earlier studies involving 370,000 people to develop a clearer picture of the link.

Dr Dhan Senaratne, who led the review and analysis, said: “As global populations continue to age, we are seeing an increase of people with multiple long-term health conditions.

“The natural implication is to think that is a problem that affects adults in mid or later life, but our research suggests that the origins may occur decades earlier in childhood.

“Data reveals that the more types of adversity you experience during your childhood, the more likely you are to have multiple long-term health conditions, or multi-morbidity, when you are an adult.”