Nausea During Pregnancy
Linked to Keen Sense of Smell.
Website address:
http://womenshealth.medscape.com/reuters/prof/2000/09/09.28/20000927clin003.html
By Emma Patten-Hitt
WESTPORT, CT (Reuters Health) Sept
28 - The morning sickness experienced by many women during
pregnancy may be connected to a heightened sense of smell.
Drs. Richard Blum and LeRoy
Heinrichs, of Stanford University in California, reported
the finding at a conference sponsored by the Pregnancy
Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human
Development in Bethesda, Maryland.
After surveying the literature on
women's nausea and vomiting, the researchers concluded, Dr.
Blum said, that "all of the stimuli for pregnancy nausea and
vomiting are odours, probably as a result of the hyperacuity
of the olfactory system induced by oestrogen, which rises
during pregnancy."
"Women have told us this for eons,"
said Dr. Heinrichs. "They say they can't stand the smell of
cooking foods, particularly meats, bacon. They often state
that the smell of coffee, perfumes, cigarette smoke,
petroleum products--anything volatile--triggers their
nausea."
Dr. Heinrichs pointed out that
nausea during pregnancy may be overlooked because of its
high frequency and relatively short duration and the fact
that it usually subsides. "It has been regarded as
'normal'," he told Reuters Health.
He also pointed out that physicians
may rightly be leery of treating nausea during early
pregnancy. "A major conflict results from the very sensitive
time for the development of the embryo," he pointed out.
"And physicians and drug companies have been criticized and
sued for poor outcomes that occur in reproduction,
incorrectly attributing the problem to anti-nausea drugs."
Dr. Heinrichs recommends that
future studies focus on treating nausea during pregnancy
with diet and aromatherapy, and that migraine drugs be
studied for their role in treating hyperemesis gravidarum.
"These conditions seem to be linked," he said.
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