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The Autism Risk With Stress And Pregnancy
>> Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Stress and pregnancy don't mix well. One of the concerns arising from this mix has been the risk of autism. Acknowledging this danger should not trigger a vicious cycle of stressing about stress. That counter-productive process can and needs to be counter-acted. Nonetheless, knowledge is essential for a safe pregnancy.
Pregnant woman and their partners are better served by awareness of recent research drawing connections between pregnancy stress and autism risks. It is essential though to not overreact and maintain a broader perspective on the evidence.
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.
The second consideration is being aware of the proportionality dilemma. There is no doubt valuable insight from pumping mice full of some toxin vastly out of proportion to its use by most humans. Predicting effects from actual human use, though, isn't likely one of them.
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.
As suggested above, it is here that we need to be cautious. This mouse stress was generated by means of exposing them to both unfamiliar noises and to the scent of foxes. It is though well known that scent reaction can be wired into the evolved neural structure through natural selection. How then is it valid to characterize exposure to existential threat of a natural predator as a mild stress?
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.
These changed neurons are critical to neurological development, including regulation of energy use, protein development and nerve cell connections. It appears likely then that OGT helps protect the brain in pregnancy.
This discovery points to an important difference between boy and girl fetuses. Males have a naturally lower level of OGT. Thus, stress in pregnancy that is sufficient to reduce OGT will likely have a greater impact on boys. This might explain the higher frequency of autism and schizophrenia documented among males.
To repeat, this is valuable knowledge that expecting mothers and their partners should understand. As with all information, though, the correct response is not increased stress! Rather it is yet further reason to be proactive in reducing pregnancy stress. See our suggestions for solutions that work .
Pregnant woman and their partners are better served by awareness of recent research drawing connections between pregnancy stress and autism risks. It is essential though to not overreact and maintain a broader perspective on the evidence.
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.
The second consideration is being aware of the proportionality dilemma. There is no doubt valuable insight from pumping mice full of some toxin vastly out of proportion to its use by most humans. Predicting effects from actual human use, though, isn't likely one of them.
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.
As suggested above, it is here that we need to be cautious. This mouse stress was generated by means of exposing them to both unfamiliar noises and to the scent of foxes. It is though well known that scent reaction can be wired into the evolved neural structure through natural selection. How then is it valid to characterize exposure to existential threat of a natural predator as a mild stress?
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.
These changed neurons are critical to neurological development, including regulation of energy use, protein development and nerve cell connections. It appears likely then that OGT helps protect the brain in pregnancy.
This discovery points to an important difference between boy and girl fetuses. Males have a naturally lower level of OGT. Thus, stress in pregnancy that is sufficient to reduce OGT will likely have a greater impact on boys. This might explain the higher frequency of autism and schizophrenia documented among males.
To repeat, this is valuable knowledge that expecting mothers and their partners should understand. As with all information, though, the correct response is not increased stress! Rather it is yet further reason to be proactive in reducing pregnancy stress. See our suggestions for solutions that work .
About the Author:
Pregnant women 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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