Prenatal stress boosts baby's asthma risk
A stressful pregnancy puts the newborn at a higher risk of developing asthma.
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A stressful pregnancy puts the newborn at a higher risk of developing asthma.
The role of stress in asthma is not understood, but animal studies suggest that prenatal stress can influence the infant's immune system in the womb. It is also known that asthma is most prevalent in those cities, where minorities and disadvantaged people live in increasingly stressful circumstances.
To look into the associations between stress during pregnancy and asthma risk among newborns researchers surveyed pregnant women in several American cities. The women were mostly from ethnic minorities, and 20 percent lived below the poverty level. In each of the 557 families, a mother or a father had a history of asthma or allergy. All of the families completed a questionnaire that asked about the stress they lived with, such as domestic violence, money worries and violence in the community.
After the babies were born, the researchers took samples of the umbilical cord blood. They used these samples to test reactions to various allergens, such as dust and cockroaches, as well as viral and bacterial stimulants.
It was found that children born to more stressed-out mothers-to-be had different immune cell responses when stimulated with various common environmental triggers compared to babies born to mothers reporting less stress. The researchers especially studied the production of cytokines, which are proteins released by immune-system cells that help govern immune responses.
The researchers found that cytokine patterns, an indicator of how the child's immune system is functioning at birth and responding to the environment, seen in the higher-stress groups denoted a higher risk for developing asthma as they get older.
The role of stress in asthma is not understood, but animal studies suggest that prenatal stress can influence the infant's immune system in the womb. It is also known that asthma is most prevalent in those cities, where minorities and disadvantaged people live in increasingly stressful circumstances.
To look into the associations between stress during pregnancy and asthma risk among newborns researchers surveyed pregnant women in several American cities. The women were mostly from ethnic minorities, and 20 percent lived below the poverty level. In each of the 557 families, a mother or a father had a history of asthma or allergy. All of the families completed a questionnaire that asked about the stress they lived with, such as domestic violence, money worries and violence in the community.
After the babies were born, the researchers took samples of the umbilical cord blood. They used these samples to test reactions to various allergens, such as dust and cockroaches, as well as viral and bacterial stimulants.
It was found that children born to more stressed-out mothers-to-be had different immune cell responses when stimulated with various common environmental triggers compared to babies born to mothers reporting less stress. The researchers especially studied the production of cytokines, which are proteins released by immune-system cells that help govern immune responses.
The researchers found that cytokine patterns, an indicator of how the child's immune system is functioning at birth and responding to the environment, seen in the higher-stress groups denoted a higher risk for developing asthma as they get older.
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