Maternal stress increases asthma risk: study

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Maternal stress increases asthma risk: study

Sharon Kirkey

Canwest News Service

Sunday, May 18, 2008

http://www.canada.com/topics/news/story.html?id=089f80ec-5660-4365-b599-2abe2f9f\

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Babies born to mothers who are stressed during pregnancy may be at

increased risk for asthma and other allergic disorders, a new study

suggests.

Harvard Medical School researchers say that stress is like a pollutant

to pregnant women that, when " breathed " in may affect not only her own

immune system but her unborn baby's as well and make babies more

sensitive to dust and other allergens.

" There is a lot of evidence to support the notion that negative

experiences that cause stress get into the body and disrupt immune

function, " says Dr. lind , an assistant professor of medicine

at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dust mites, pollen, moulds and other substances in the environment are

known triggers for asthma and allergies. But they don't fully explain

rising rates of asthma or why there's more of the disease in inner city

and lower income populations.

and her team wondered whether stress might play a role.

In an ongoing study involving about 1,000 families, researchers measured

women's stress levels while they were pregnant. They also measured how

much dust was in their houses.

After testing 387 babies so far, the Boston researchers have found

increased levels of antibodies involved in an allergic response in the

cord blood of babies born to mothers who experienced higher levels of

stress - even when they were exposed to relatively low levels of dust

while pregnant.

The finding held even after they took into account whether the mother

smoked, her own history of allergies and other factors.

Stress can increase the amount of cortisol and adrenalin produced by the

body.

" If mom is under chronic stress these changes may be more persistent and

can even be transmitted to the baby, " says. And cortisol can

alter the immune system.

" So when the baby is now exposed to increased cortisol from the mother

this may change the way their immune system develops " and make them more

vulnerable to develop asthma and allergies, she says.

The children are being followed to see how many actually go on to

develop asthma. In the meantime, says doctors should talk to

pregnant women " about the importance of trying to reduce stress because

it may affect their own health as well as their baby's. "

The findings were presented Sunday at the American Thoracic Society's

2008 International Conference in Toronto.

© Canwest News Service 2008

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