Children's asthma linked to pregnancy stress
Stress during pregnancy has been linked to allergies in children
Also In The News
|
Published by Little Brown, out now, hardback, 405 pages, £18. |  |
Monday, 19, May 2008 11:21
Women who are stressed during their pregnancy are more likely to have children with allergies, new research suggests.
Scientists at Harvard Medical School say pregnancy stress may be passed to fetuses in the form of increased sensitivity to allergies and possibly future asthma risk.
They also argue that mothers' stress during pregnancy can influence babies' developing immune system.
Studies in animals have suggested that the combination of stress and allergen exposure during pregnancy may affect the immune system.
In the Harvard researchers' studies in humans they analysed levels of maternal stress and mothers' exposure to dust mite allergen in their homes as well as IgE expression in cord blood - a marker of the child's immune response at birth.
They found increased levels of IgE expression in cord blood among infants whose mothers experienced higher levels of stress even when exposed to relatively low levels of dust mite during pregnancy.
This indicates, the researchers argue, that mothers' stress during pregnancy increased the effect of dust exposure on the child's immune system in such a way that the child's immune response at birth may be altered even with lower levels of dust exposure in the home.
Their findings were the same after they took the mother's race, class, education and smoking history into account.
"This research adds to a growing body of evidence that links maternal stress such as that precipitated by financial problems or relationship issues, to changes in children's developing immune systems, even during pregnancy," said researcher Dr Rosalind Wright.
"This further supports the notion that stress can be thought of as a social pollutant that, when 'breathed' into the body, may influence the body's immune response similar to the effects of physical pollutants like allergens, thus adding to their effects."
Dr Wright added that while these findings are important, only with continued follow-up of these children will the researchers know if these effects will result in increased asthma risk.
They say it will be important to replicate these findings in larger populations to give a clearer picture of the relationship between prenatal maternal stress, allergen exposure and subsequent childhood asthma development.