Scientists discover cause of pregnancy morning sickness, test cures
Newsy
Some 70% of women experience nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, and until now, an underlying cause was unknown.
In a breakthrough discovery, scientists have identified the cause of pregnancy morning sickness, raising hope for a possible cure.
Researchers found that a hormone exposed to pregnant women through the placenta — called GDF15 — is what triggers the nausea and vomiting, according to a study published in the journal Nature.
The study found that the severity of morning sickness a pregnant woman experiences is directly related to the amount of GDF15 she is exposed to. Until now, the underlying cause of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy had not been known.
"We now know that women get sick during pregnancy when they are exposed to higher levels of the hormone GDF15 than they are used to," said Marlena Fejzo, a clinical assistant professor at the University of Southern California's Keck School of Medicine, and the study's author.
Women with typically lower levels of GDF15 become sicker when the hormone surges during pregnancy. But those already exposed to higher levels of the hormone are less affected. For example, women with beta-thalassemia, a condition where GDF15 levels are chronically high, report very low levels of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.
