2008 Press Releases
Stress in Pregnancy
05.02.2008
Dr Louise Kenny, Senior Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UCC and Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) is a member of an international team of researchers who have discovered a link between stress in pregnancy and schizophrenia in the resulting offspring.
05.02.2008
Dr Louise Kenny, Senior Lecturer, Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, UCC and Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Cork University Maternity Hospital (CUMH) is a member of an international team of researchers who have discovered a link between stress in pregnancy and schizophrenia in the resulting offspring.
The team has discovered that the babies of women exposed to severe levels of stress, such as those caused by the death of a close relative, during the first trimester of pregnancy may have an increased risk of schizophrenia. This paper titled Higher Risk of Offspring Schizophrenia following Antenatal Maternal Exposure to Severe Adverse Life Events is published in the prestigious Archives of General Psychiatry.
The key findings of the population based study were:
- The risk of schizophrenia was increased in offspring whose mothers were exposed to the death of a relative during the first trimester of pregnancy. The death of a relative during the other trimesters or up to six months before the pregnancy was not associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia.
- The findings were consistent with other pieces of evidence from whole populations exposed to severe stressors
- The results suggest that uterine environment may influence the neurodevelopment of the fetus and the first trimester of pregnancy is the most important stage of this particular development.
Dr Ali Khashan, who is also a co-author on the paper, will be continuing this work in his new role at the Anu Research Centre in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, UCC.
See http://www.ucc.ie/en/obsgyn/bupa/CentreforHumanMolecularReproduction/
Picture: Dr Louise Kenny
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