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How Trauma is Passed from Generation to Generation
In an attempt to foil the Nazis, Dutch railway workers went on strike to halt Nazi troops from advancing through Europe.
Unfortunately, this plan backfired massively as the Nazis blocked food supplies from entering the Netherlands, resulting in the Dutch Hongerwinter (Hunger Winter) that lasted from September 1944 to March 1945.
As one would expect, many people died due to this atrocity but there were also soon-to-be mothers amongst the hungry. And as it turned out, the trauma the mothers suffered impacted the children they carried inside them.
A study was published by Dr. L.H. Lumey et al. (2014) where they compared the children born to mothers who suffered during the Dutch Hunger Winter and children who were born before and after the famine.
What they found was that those who were in utero during the famine had higher rates of obesity, diabetes and schizophrenia. They also died at a higher rate.
What is the scientific explanation behind this?
In a later study by Lumley et al. (2018), it was revealed that certain genes were silent in those who were in utero during the Dutch Hunger Winter, suggesting a predisposition to disease in comparison to their peers who were not born to parents who were with child during the famine.
