The conclusion belongs to a new study

Mar 18, 2010 23:01 GMT  ·  By
Mothers experiencing a great deal of stress during pregnancy are more likely to have children that are exposed to a heightened risk of developing asthma
   Mothers experiencing a great deal of stress during pregnancy are more likely to have children that are exposed to a heightened risk of developing asthma

A collaboration of American investigators, based at the Brigham and Women's Hospital, and the Harvard Medical School, in Boston, has recently determined that the children of women who are exposed to a lot of stress during pregnancy have high chances of developing asthma later on in life. The conclusion is extremely important for healthcare programs, which some experts believe should be aimed at reducing the amount of stress pregnant women have to undergo while bearing a child.

During the investigation, the research team looked at samples of cord blood, taken from mothers that had their children in both stressful and stress-free environments. They were scanning for notable differences in the characteristics of immune system markers, and noticed that a number of patterns emerged. For example, it was made apparent that children born in stressful environments had a higher concentration of markers that could be associated with the development of asthma later on in life.

“This is the first study in humans to show that increased stress experienced during pregnancy in these urban, largely minority women, is associated with different patterns of cord blood cytokine production to various environmental stimuli, relative to babies born to lower-stressed mothers,” explains Brigham and Women's Hospital associate physician Rosalind Wright, MD, MPH, who was part of the study team. Details of the investigation appear online ahead of print, in the latest issue of the American Thoracic Society's American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

“The ctyokine patterns seen in the higher stress groups, which are an indication of how the child's immune system is functioning at birth, may be a marker of increased risk for developing asthma and allergy as they get older. For example, while the debate continues as to whether primary sensitization to allergens begins before birth, these findings suggest the possibility that prenatal stress may enhance the neonates' response to inhalant antigens, specifically those antigens that the fetus is likely to encounter more directly in utero, like dust mite,” the expert adds.

“The current findings suggest that psychological stress is involved in programming of the infant immune response and that this influence begins during pregnancy. As these infants mature, we will learn how these factors manifest later in terms of the development of asthma and allergy,” Wright concludes, quoted by PhysOrg.