stress linked to autism article

January 19, 2008

Just wondering how many of you this article applies to??? Major Stress During

Pregnancy Linked To Autism ScienceDaily (Nov. 28, 2001) — COLUMBUS, Ohio -

Women who have had a major stressful event - death of a spouse, job loss, or a

long-distance move - midway through their pregnancy may have a greater chance of

having an autistic child than do their unstressed counterparts say researchers

at The Ohio State University Medical Center.

In a presentation at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San

Diego, Dr. Beversdorf, a neurologist at OSU Medical Center and principal

investigator of the study, reported on a study of 188 women who had delivered

autistic children. The research showed that these women were more likely to have

experienced a major stressor the 24th through 28th weeks of their pregnancy.

" Researchers have been examining the genetic component of the disease for

years, but there is now evidence through this study that autism is also linked

to external factors, such as prenatal stress, " he said.

Beversdorf and his collegues asked mothers to document their stress levels

when stressful events occurred during their pregnancies. The study included the

mothers of autistic children, 212 women who had normal births and 92 women who

had children with Down's syndrome - a genetically caused neurological disorder

caused by chromosomal abnormality.

The researchers then used a standard psychological measure - The Social

Readjustment Rating Scale - to gauge the impact at four-week intervals that

those stressors had on the women. For the study, a " major stressor " was defined

as a life-altering event in the woman's life, such a loss of a loved one or

losing a job.

He noted that the numbers of women experiencing major stress during any

certain four-week period in their pregnancies remained fairly constant during

the study for normal and Down's syndrome pregnancies. Stress levels for the

mothers of autistic children were nearly twice those of other mothers in the

study.

" We expected that a woman who has had an autistic child or a child with Down's

syndrome would tend to remember these life stressors more easily than a woman

who has had a normal birth, " he said.

" What we were looking for was this rise in the numbers of who had a major

stressor during this time period (before 32 weeks) and that these women also had

autistic children. "

Beversdorf and his colleagues believe their research supports earlier animal

studies that suggest stress during specific periods in the pregnancy may lead to

structural changes in the brain that have been linked to autism.

The timing of the stressful events recorded for the study seem to mesh well,

timewise, with the periods of development of the fetal cerebellum - a key

portion of the brain that is structurally different in autistic children.

Autism is a neurological disorder that tends to appear early in a child's

life, typically before age 3. These children have problems interacting and

communicating with others, have a language delay, and develop a narrow and

repetitive pattern of behaviors.

These behaviors typically stay with the child throughout his or her life.

" With this information there will be other studies that can hopefully

determine what are the causes and influences of autism in children, " said

Beversdorf.

Adapted from materials provided by Ohio State University.

January 19, 2008

If you have ever talked to a naturpath Dr. or Homepathy Dr., This is

one of the questions they will ask you. If you had stress during the

pregnancy and or afterwords.

January 21, 2008

I'd like to know more out of those women who had " stress " in their

pregnancy, who received RhoGam midway through their pregnancy.

Hilda

**************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.

http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

January 21, 2008

*MAJOR* Stress and RhoGam here! Job change nightmare at about 22

weeks--even being woken up after 8:30 at night to drive 15 miles to come in

for " performance reviews " at emergency board meetings--for the position

of director of my church's child care!!! I had to go back to work with my

son in tow 8 days after a c-sect, knowing he was legally blind (first and

only child after 13 pregnancies) I left the job when he was 7 months old.

> I'd like to know more out of those women who had " stress " in their

> pregnancy, who received RhoGam midway through their pregnancy.

>

> Hilda

>

> **************Start the year off right. Easy ways to stay in shape.

> http://body.aol.com/fitness/winter-exercise?NCID=aolcmp00300000002489

>

January 22, 2008

Can someone tell me how to stop getting the emails? I am getting so many that

are reproduced that it is filling up my box

Debbie

Deb1968_99@...

Bonnie wrote: