What is ACE? Why is it important?

ACE stands for Adverse Childhood Experiences. It is a study by CDC that links any childhood trauma that people may have had, to chronic diseases that develop in their adult lives.

Childhood trauma is very common and has been proven to be linked to many chronic diseases like heart disease, lung cancer and diabetes. It is also proven to be linked to social and emotional issues like depression, violence, and even suicide.

A questionnaire about ACE can help determine a patients' ACE score to see how at risk they are to have developing chronic diseases as an adult. The scale of the scores are from 0 to 4 or more.

Studies show that people that score a 4 or more are more prone to alcoholism, chronic depression, perpetuating domestic violence, liver disease, smoking, suicide attempts, teen sexual behaviors, impaired worker performance, and many more.

If researchers and healthcre providers can determine if a patient has a high ACE score and is prone to certain diseases, they can have a better understanding of the patient to provide better care. More specialized appointments would be scheduled for patients with high ACE scores to tend to their childhood trauma affects as an adult that they might not even know are there.