News Sick kids live longer, but brain function may suffer

[MyPTSD]

Hundreds of thousands of children with chronic illnesses who used to die are now surviving their disease and treatment—which is amazing. But their brains are being damaged in the process of keeping them alive. This first ever research quantifies the IQ impact of six main illnesses and looks and the common threads that connect them. It also takes next steps on how psychologists can team up with surgeons/oncologists, etc. to help treat kids and their parents, so they can thrive in school and life.

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[eloc]

This is really interesting because I had read that PTSD did not affect IQ .....so stress and chronic stress appear different in that regard. I wonder if the stress's impact on sick children is measured with high cortisol levels. My favorite qoute is

" PTSD is not reflective of an acute response to stress, or of a response associated with a chronic stressor, both characterized by high cortisol levels, but rather it reflects a persistent response to a challenge that is no longer present. It is likely that these changes are underpinned by epigenetic mechanisms or other molecular processes that reflect an enduring transformative change. Indeed, unlike acute stressors, watershed events that result in PTSD often leave the survivor feeling that he or she has been permanently changed.

Whereas the goal in acute and even to some extent chronic stress is to help the person achieve homeostasis and recovery to a prestress state, in PTSD, the therapeutic goals
involve acceptance of the transformative nature of life-altering events."
Endocrine aspects of post-traumatic stress disorder and implications for diagnosis and treatment.
Daskalakis NP1, Lehrner A, Yehuda R.