For several years, scientists have been seeking to know the underlying cause of morning sickness in hopes that a cure for the condition could also be found.
Key Cause of Morning Sickness
In a new study entitled "GDF15 linked to maternal risk of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy," the authors suggest that certain pregnant individuals are quite sensitive to a hormone known as GDF15. The hormone is typically produced at minimal levels all over the body. However, pregnant individuals get a different strong dose from the fetus growing inside. This, in turn, could lead to nausea and vomiting.
A study from 2018 also discovered a connection between a GDF15-controlling gene as well as vomiting and nausea in pregnancy among 53,000 women. The new study is based on that work. It links the condition and the hormone by examining the concern from a different perspective, including genetic data and information from a novel test that can distinguish the hormones and their levels in the blood of a pregnant person.
The researchers discovered that GDF15 levels go up during the first 12 weeks. The higher the GDF15 levels in the fetus and the higher the sensitivity of the pregnant individual to the said hormone, the more sick the woman gets. However, the sickness risk gets lower when the fetus produces less GDF15. Pre-pregnancy exposure could also be a factor.
The authors also examined studies that claimed that individuals with a certain hereditary blood disorder and who had higher GDF15 levels in the body before pregnancy rarely experienced such a sickness while they were pregnant. Rather, the inverse was observed. Individuals with the genetic variant that leads to lower GDF15 levels have a higher risk of hyperemesis gravidarum, which refers to severe vomiting and nausea in pregnancy.
The researchers also noticed that when mice received high GDF15 exposure, they lost their appetite. This suggests that they could be experiencing nausea. When the mice received treatment with a certain long-acting form of GDF15, their appetite was regular.
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Morning Sickness Explained
Morning sickness generally refers to nausea and vomiting that takes place during pregnancy. Though it is named that way, the condition can also affect a pregnant person at night or any time of the day.
Several individuals deal with morning sickness, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, some individuals also experience morning sickness throughout the entire duration of the pregnancy.
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