ABSTRACT
Background - Research on the consequences of exposure to the atrocities of World War II (WWII) and the Holocaust revealed long-term physical health outcomes.
Aim - To review the current literature on long-term physical morbidity in child Holocaust survivors (HS) and in offspring of HS (OHS) born after WWII.
Methods - A scientific literature search utilized PUBMED, MEDLINE and Google Scholar databases. The terms “child Holocaust survivors”, “offspring of Holocaust survivors” “second generation”, “health” and “intergenerational/transgenerational” were used, including equivalent, related and expanded terms. The abstracts of manuscripts on physical morbidity were reviewed and references of relevant papers were screened to locate additional publications.
Results - Out of 253 papers retrieved (including overlapping results), only 11 addressed the direct study questions, 5 referred to CHS and 6 referred to OHS. Studies focusing on physical health in CHS showed higher prevalence of risk factors for chronic disease (i.e., obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, metabolic syndrome) and chronic morbidity, including cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, chronic respiratory disease and others. Studies focusing on physical health outcomes in OHS were often controversial.
Conclusions - CHS may be susceptible for certain chronic conditions, especially metabolic disease. Attention should be focused on primary prevention and early detection in this population. In addition, there is an urgent need to further study long-term physical outcomes in OHS, preferably using longitudinal study designs.
