It took me over a year, but I finally started to understand the fabulousness that is Twitter. And no, it’s not because I want you to know what I had for lunch (although I had some amazing Indian food today). It’s because I meet a lot of interesting people on Twitter, and am directed to some fascinating info. The geek in me LOVES the immediate access I get via Twitter to all sorts of interesting infant research. But I do realize that most of you don’t share my fascination with primary-source research — you just want to get through your parenting day with your wits reasonably intact. And that’s why I’m here — to help sort through all the clutter, and show you what I think is TRULY interesting, relevant, and important to parents.

So I’m starting a new category on BabyShrink — BabyGeek. It will give me the opportunity to use more than 140 characters to help interpret the most current findings from the world of infant and child development, and the mind-boggling findings from brain and neuroscience. I hope I can make it all interesting for you, too.

And now, for my first moment of BabyGeek:

Early Trauma Damages Babies’ DNA

This heartbreaking study confirms what shrinks like me have long suspected: The mind and body are closely linked, even from the first months of life. This study shows how deeply linked: Traumatic emotional experiences such as institutional care actually damage the child’s DNA. Scientists have been investigating how the length of the telomere (the cap that protects the ends of the DNA strand) is related to health and longevity — and the orphans in the study had significantly shorter telomeres. Here’s the study report.

In college, we used to argue about “nature vs. nurture”. Now, we know it’s nature AND nurture — down to our DNA.

I’m waiting for the research that shows longer telomeres in babies from “good enough” homes.  I wonder what other aspects of parental care will show impacts — positive or negative — on DNA?

What are your thoughts?

Aloha,

Dr. Heather
The BabyShrink

And I hope to see you on Twitter! Follow me here.