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The Autism Risk With Stress And Pregnancy
>> Wednesday, December 31, 2014
One consideration for thinking about the relation between stress and pregnancy is the matter of stress in pregnancy and autism. As we've emphasized elsewhere, stressing about stress is a counter-productive cycle that needs to be avoided. However, knowledge is valuable.
Expecting mothers - and their partners - should be aware of the research giving rise to widespread conclusions that pregnancy stress presents dangers to unborn children, including risks of autism. Again, though, don't stress about stress; keep the big picture in mind.
First, right now the evidence is derived from the study of mice. Mice studies have been an important contributor to understanding human disease. However, it would be a mistake to automatically assume that any finding among mice automatically and immediately translates into human experience.
Another qualification to keep in mind is the always delicate issue of relevant proportionality. For instance, pumping mice full of some toxin in volumes utterly disproportionate to usual human practices surely does still provide valuable scientific insights. Not among those insights though would be any predictive value for assessing the relevance to the characteristically different human behavior.
This is important to remember when we observe that the researchers characterize the stress imposed on the mice as mild. This term though reveals nothing precise about the stress level of the mice. Nor does it reveal whether such findings do (or don't) translate to human experience. The resulting knowledge gap should not be filled with baseless assumptions fueled by our worst fears.
Bearing in mind such qualifications, we can observe the significance of research findings to the effect that the placenta of pregnant mice transmits biochemical effects of stress to the fetus. The essential element involved appears to be an enzyme called OGT. The relevant research indicates that OGT is what's inhibited in the placenta of mice who are subjected to what researchers describe as mild stress.
It is valuable to observe that this mouse stress was generated through exposure to both unfamiliar noises and to the scent of foxes. This author remains unclear as to why - since we know that scent reaction can be wired into the evolved psychology through natural selection - the stress caused by exposure to threat of a natural predator should be considered mild.
In any event, despite this serious flaw in the presentation of the research findings, it does appear clear that at some level of stress, mice do experience significantly reduced OGT levels. These reductions trigger alternations of over 370 of the mice's brain genes.
The neurons which were altered are critically important to a number of vital brain activities in fetus development. These include regulation of energy use, protein development and nerve cell connections. This research does seem to strongly indicate that OGT helps protect development of the fetal brain.
An important difference between male and female fetuses comes into play, here. There is a naturally lower OGT level in male fetuses. Consequently, whatever the level of stress sufficient to trigger reduced OGT, the affect will be felt sooner and more drastically in the development of boys. Such conjecture would be supported by the documented fact of higher autism and schizophrenia occurrence among males.
As noted at the start, this kind of information is valuable for expecting mothers and their partners. It should though be empowering, not a source of increased stress. The basic rule remains that it is your job to take proactive measures reducing pregnancy stress. See our suggestions for solutions that work .
Expecting mothers - and their partners - should be aware of the research giving rise to widespread conclusions that pregnancy stress presents dangers to unborn children, including risks of autism. Again, though, don't stress about stress; keep the big picture in mind.
First, right now the evidence is derived from the study of mice. Mice studies have been an important contributor to understanding human disease. However, it would be a mistake to automatically assume that any finding among mice automatically and immediately translates into human experience.
Another qualification to keep in mind is the always delicate issue of relevant proportionality. For instance, pumping mice full of some toxin in volumes utterly disproportionate to usual human practices surely does still provide valuable scientific insights. Not among those insights though would be any predictive value for assessing the relevance to the characteristically different human behavior.
This is important to remember when we observe that the researchers characterize the stress imposed on the mice as mild. This term though reveals nothing precise about the stress level of the mice. Nor does it reveal whether such findings do (or don't) translate to human experience. The resulting knowledge gap should not be filled with baseless assumptions fueled by our worst fears.
Bearing in mind such qualifications, we can observe the significance of research findings to the effect that the placenta of pregnant mice transmits biochemical effects of stress to the fetus. The essential element involved appears to be an enzyme called OGT. The relevant research indicates that OGT is what's inhibited in the placenta of mice who are subjected to what researchers describe as mild stress.
It is valuable to observe that this mouse stress was generated through exposure to both unfamiliar noises and to the scent of foxes. This author remains unclear as to why - since we know that scent reaction can be wired into the evolved psychology through natural selection - the stress caused by exposure to threat of a natural predator should be considered mild.
In any event, despite this serious flaw in the presentation of the research findings, it does appear clear that at some level of stress, mice do experience significantly reduced OGT levels. These reductions trigger alternations of over 370 of the mice's brain genes.
The neurons which were altered are critically important to a number of vital brain activities in fetus development. These include regulation of energy use, protein development and nerve cell connections. This research does seem to strongly indicate that OGT helps protect development of the fetal brain.
An important difference between male and female fetuses comes into play, here. There is a naturally lower OGT level in male fetuses. Consequently, whatever the level of stress sufficient to trigger reduced OGT, the affect will be felt sooner and more drastically in the development of boys. Such conjecture would be supported by the documented fact of higher autism and schizophrenia occurrence among males.
As noted at the start, this kind of information is valuable for expecting mothers and their partners. It should though be empowering, not a source of increased stress. The basic rule remains that it is your job to take proactive measures reducing pregnancy stress. See our suggestions for solutions that work .
About the Author:
Expecting moms and their partners who want to keep up on all the relevant news need to follow the Stress and Pregnancy site. Also, for more great information about healthy life-choice, check out the info at our sister project, the Getting Rid of a Headache Without Medicine blog.
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