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Medicine

Scientists Pinpoint Cause of Morning Sickness To Hormone Made By Fetus 145

Scientists have pinpointed the cause of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, "finding that the severity of illness is influenced by how much of a hormone called GDF15 the growing fetus makes," reports Science Magazine. The findings have been published in the journal Nature. From the report: GDF15 is present in the blood of nonpregnant people and is known to be associated with nausea; it's also been tested as a weight loss aid because of its tendency to suppress appetite. Levels of the hormone rise sharply in early pregnancy and increase throughout gestation. Pregnant people with higher GDF15 concentrations have been documented as having a higher risk of vomiting and nausea. Some researchers suggest the hormone-caused aversion to some smells and tastes might encourage an expectant parent to avoid foods potentially dangerous to the fetus.

To find out more about GDF15 changes during pregnancy, University of Cambridge physician-scientist Stephen O'Rahilly and colleagues studied half a dozen pregnant people who were known from previous genetic screening to produce a slightly different version of the GDF15 protein from their fetuses. Researchers could take advantage of that difference to trace whether GDF15 in the parent's blood originated in the parental or fetal genome: Almost all of it came from the fetus, O'Rahilly says. The team also took a closer look at the link between GDF15 levels and pregnancy sickness. Consistent with previous research, questionnaires from more than 300 participants showed that people who reported vomiting and nausea had significantly higher levels of circulating GDF15 on average than people without these symptoms. The researchers also found elevated levels of GDF15 in an analysis of more than 50 women hospitalized with hyperemesis gravidarum.

Still, hormone levels alone couldn't explain the difference in sickness severity. "There was a big overlap" in GDF15 levels between the groups, O'Rahilly says. He and co-author Marlena Fejzo, a researcher at the University of Southern California, suspected that people's sensitivity to GDF15 might also play a role. (Fejzo began to study the condition after her own pregnancy loss following hyperemesis gravidarum.) To test the idea, the researchers studied 10 nonpregnant people with a rare genetic variant known to carry a heightened risk of hyperemesis gravidarum. These people had reduced GDF15 levels in their blood, hinting that naturally low levels of the hormone might predispose someone to sickness during pregnancy. The researchers found the opposite when they asked 20 pregnant people with beta thalassemia, a blood disorder associated with high GDF15 levels, about their pregnancy symptoms: Just 5% of this group reported nausea or vomiting. O'Rahilly's lab found a similar pattern in animal experiments.
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Scientists Pinpoint Cause of Morning Sickness To Hormone Made By Fetus

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  • by acz ( 120227 ) <z AT hert DOT org> on Friday December 15, 2023 @06:14AM (#64083095) Homepage

    The nutrient-induced increase in GDF15 levels depends on rapid glucose and insulin excursions following fast-digesting carbohydrates, but not on the amount of calories taken in.

  • by Valgrus Thunderaxe ( 8769977 ) on Friday December 15, 2023 @07:16AM (#64083137)
    Remove the fetus.
  • by drwho ( 4190 ) on Friday December 15, 2023 @10:21AM (#64083449) Homepage Journal

    This signal is useful because you know that you can't trust what the rest of the article says. Serious people don't says this. Serious editors wouldn't let it pass. Serious journals wouldn't publish such things. 'Nature' has been captured. Keep that in mind when reading things that don't seem to make sense - it may not be your inability to comprehend the paper that is the problem.

    • Back to 4chan it is then.

    • The editors of Nature surely know what kind of signal they are sending, so this is a conscious effort.

      Politics and money drive science now. Look at the tidal wave of bogus "science" being published by the journals if you want proof.
    • This signal is useful because you know that you can't trust what the rest of the article says. Serious people don't says this. Serious editors wouldn't let it pass. Serious journals wouldn't publish such things. 'Nature' has been captured. Keep that in mind when reading things that don't seem to make sense - it may not be your inability to comprehend the paper that is the problem.

      The signal is useful because it helps us identify precious snowflakes who are triggered by accurate scientific language.

      Does this study apply to the genetically XY woman who gave birth?

      Does the study apply to a transgender male who can still get pregnant and give birth?

      I would think the answer is yes in both cases, so why then are you insisting the researchers use less accurate language? Is it really that traumatizing to be confronted with the idea that biology isn't as simple as you'd like it to be?

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Trans men and intersex people can get pregnant. That's just a fact. Isn't it great that modern medicine both understands that, and can help people assigned female at birth make a successful and happy transition to being male?

      Ironic that your username is Dr Who, a show famously willing to accept diverse concepts. The Doctor would shrug and ask "don't men get pregnant on your world?"

  • I hope this doesn't lead to a treatment which suppresses GDF15. While I don't like mothers feeling sick, if that's necessary to protect the health of the fetus, then leave it be. It's only a few months (Or less? I don't know--I inherited grown stepchildren)
    • I hope this doesn't lead to a treatment which suppresses GDF15. While I don't like mothers feeling sick, if that's necessary to protect the health of the fetus, then leave it be. It's only a few months (Or less? I don't know--I inherited grown stepchildren)

      The modern-day approach to a situation like this will likely be to find some way to block the parent's response to the increased levels of this hormone, rather than block the hormone itself. The trick will be finding something that blocks the nausea trigger that doesn't block the effects the hormone has on the uterus, the mother, or the child gestating in her womb. But we love our chemical alterations right now. And somebody, somewhere, is seeing the results of this study and seeing dollar signs in their ey

      • "... find some way to block the parent's response ..."

        Which parent? As the father of two children, I am a parent. Do I get to experience this GDF15 response too? No? Why not?!?! Don't oppress me!
      • And then 10 years later after babies have been born with extra arms there will be a massive lawsuit.

    • It's certainly likely that thalidomide blocks this pathway.

      It was quite safe and effective (for the mother).

      We shouldn't mess with Nature that we don't understand. As another commenter here alludes to, an evolutionary diet prevents most of the wild swings of this hormone.

      Sorry, ladies - Ben & Jerry's isn't good pregnancy food. Have a ribeye.

    • While I don't like mothers feeling sick, if that's necessary to protect the health of the fetus

      It isn't the fetus' choice. Mother's choice. It's not baby, not a person. Right?

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