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Although today there are more than 80 published journal articles on ACEs, Felitti says most physicians haven't heard of ACEs and "almost never" ask about a patient's childhood in routine screenings.Pradeep Gidwani, a San Diego–based pediatrician and director of projects at the American Academy of Pediatrics, told VICE the medical field has been slow to embrace ACE research. Part of the problem, he said, is that physicians don't have adequate training or resources to deal with patients who do show signs of childhood trauma.Redding said no one before Felitti connected her health problems to toxic events from her childhood—but it was clear that she had suffered trauma.When she was four, her mother died of a brain hemorrhage. Her father—a World War II vet with PTSD—crumbled after her death, becoming a violent alcoholic. During her childhood, she says her father regularly beat her and her siblings; money and food were scarce, and at one point, Redding's family was evicted and she was sent away to live with their aunt."Who would think that something that happens when you're three or four years old could cause cancer when you're 40?" — Carol Redding
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