A recent study has revealed that stress caused by child abuse can cause a long lasting mental disturbance, making sufferers vulnerable to chronic pain from such conditions as irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, interstitial cystitis and arthritis.

The findings are revealed in the January issue of Headache: The Journal of Head and Face Pain.

"The linking of these comorbidities may be through abuse-mediated brain changes occurring early in life", said the study's lead researcher, Dr. Gretchen E. Tietjen. "Understanding the physiology of abuse's effects on the brain over the life span may lead to prevention or more effective treatment of migraine and associated conditions".

However, not all children develop migraines and not everyone who suffers from migraines or any other chronic painful condition was abused.

The study carried by Tietjen's group, collected data on 1,348 people suffering from migraines who were seen at 11 outpatient headache centers. It reported a 58% people were either afflicted from physical, sexual or emotional abuse, or were suffering physical or emotional neglect during childhood.

Women who had undergone physical abuse during childhood were more likely to have endometriosis and uterine fibroids. However, emotional abuse was connected to both conditions and emotional neglect was associated with uterine fibroids alone, the study found.

The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services cited childhood abuse as a common menace in U. S. It reported that more than 3 million reports of abuse or neglect are investigated each year, of which more than 700,000 children are categorized as victims of neglect or abuse.