Nausea and vomiting are common during pregnancy, especially during the first trimester of pregnancy. However, little is known about its causes. It has been speculated that the phenomenon of morning sicknesswhich seems to be something exclusive to the human species, constitutes a mechanism of protection of the fetus against the ingestion of toxins and harmful agents potentially present in food.
Hypotheses aside, the truth is that there are many gaps surrounding this very common pregnancy disorder. “70-90% of pregnant women experience nausea at some point during pregnancy. Normally, they begin from five weeks of gestation and can last until week 16 to 18. Less frequently, they persist, sometimes throughout the pregnancy,” he details to DM. Tatiana Figueras Falcóngynecologist at the Maternal and Child University Hospital of the Canary Islands, in Las Palmas, and member of the Perinatal Medicine section of the Spanish Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SEGO).
The gynecologist recalls that the majority of cases remain in the initial nausea, with the consequent limitations in daily and work activity. However, in 1% of pregnant women, hyperemesis gravidarum. “In fact, it is the most common cause of hospital admission in the first trimester of pregnancy.”
New research, published today in Natureexpands the still short knowledge on the molecular pathogenesis of morning sickness.
The main authors of the work are Stephen O’Rahillyfrom the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom, and Marlena Fejzo, from the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. Researchers find that the origin of the disorder is a hormone produced by the fetus: the GDF15 protein (growth differentiation factor 15).