Does Maternal Stress Really Predict Autism Traits and Asthma? (Premium)
You might have seen the headlines last week that touted: Prenatal maternal stress predicts asthma and autism traits in 6 1/2 year-old children: Project Ice Storm. The news was based on a press release from Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal. (Reproduced at the end of this article.) It clearly implies that a pregnant mother’s stress can cause autism.
While I acknowledge stress has a powerful role in health, I found this study raised more questions than it answered. Plus, after experiencing an ice storm, I have a different angle on the findings.
In an ambitious effort, researchers studied 150 families out of millions who lost power during the 1988 ice storm. Some were without power for up to 45 days. Levels of stress among mothers who were pregnant during the storm or shortly thereafter were documented, and the children were later studied at age 6 1/2; they continue to be monitored as teens.
See if this makes sense to you
[am4show have=’g1;’ guest_error=’Premium Article Guest Message’ user_error=’Premium Article Basic Message’ ]
While the headline claims the mother’s stress from the storm caused unborn children to later have “autism traits” the report also says:
“The team emphasizes that the children in Project Ice Storm are not autistic; the results describe normal variations among children.”
So—if none of the kids in the study had autism, and the symptoms are within normal range, why use the inflammatory term “autism traits” in the title of the press release??
Further, it is said:
“Interestingly, the children with the most severe symptoms had mothers who had had high levels of hardship from the ice storm but low levels of distress.”
Hardship was based on factors like the number of days without power. This implies it was more harmful to the fetus for a mother to have a high number of days without power than to actually be stressed by it!
I have an alternate explanation for any increase in symptoms reported by researchers: toxins, not stress.
When the power goes off and it’s freezing outside, families typically do three things: Seal the house up tight to avoid drafts, find a source of light, and try to heat the home.
Sealing the house makes sense to maximize warmth, but this means the home is not properly vented.
Having a source of light over a long-term period usually means burning every candle you can locate, and using kerosene lanterns. Few people are prepared with batteries for weeks at a time. Burning paraffin candles, the most common type, releases toxic chemicals like toluene and benzene. Scented paraffin candles emit even more chemicals.
Use of kerosene lanterns or stoves requires adequate ventilation. Burning kerosene consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and other gases. (Source.)
Heat usually comes from a wood or gas fireplace, a wood or coal stove, or propane portable space heaters. More opportunity for toxins to be released into the home air.
As a result, a pregnant mother may well be exposed to a higher level of toxins than normal during an ice storm. The longer time without power, the greater the chance for harm from environmental factors.
It is well established that the first trimester is often the most vulnerable time for the fetus during toxic exposures. Is it a coincidence that the researchers reported this below?
“The effect of the mothers’ ice storm stress was especially strong when the ice storm happened in the first trimester of pregnancy.”
In summary, this report seemed to overplay any stress-induced “autism” connection while failing to acknowledge the possible role of toxic environmental issues in fetal development during lengthy power outages.
Press release:
Ice Storm Project and maternal stress
Prenatal maternal stress predicts asthma and autism traits in 6 1/2 year-old children: Project Ice Storm
Montreal, June 2, 2014 – A new study finds a link between prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) and the development of symptoms of asthma and autism in children.
A team of scientists from The Douglas Mental Health University Institute and from McGill University has been studying women who were pregnant during the January 1998 Quebec ice storm since June of that year and observing effects of their stress on their children’s development (Project Ice Storm).The team examined the degree to which the mothers’ objective degree of hardship from the storm and their subjective degree of distress explained differences among the women’s children in asthma-like symptoms and in autism-like traits.
Results reported in the journal Psychiatry Research show that the greater the mothers’ objective hardship from the ice storm (such as more days without electricity), and the greater the mothers’ distress about the ice storm 5 months later, the more severe their children’s autistic-like traits at 6½ years of age.
The team emphasizes that the children in Project Ice Storm are not autistic; the results describe normal variations among children.
These traits include difficulty making friends, being clumsy, speaking in odd ways, etc. The effect of the mothers’ ice storm stress was especially strong when the ice storm happened in the first trimester of pregnancy. Interestingly, the children with the most severe symptoms had mothers who had had high levels of hardship from the ice storm but low levels of distress.
“We have found effects of the mothers’ objective hardship from the ice storm (such as the number of days without electricity), or their degree of distress from the storm, on every aspect of child development that we have studied, said Suzanne King, PhD, the senior author of the paper. This is surprising, since the children in our study are mostly from upper class families and are generally doing extremely well in school and in life.”
In May, the team reported in the journal Biomedical Research International that girls whose mothers had had high levels of distress after the ice storm were more likely to have experienced wheezing, to have been diagnosed with asthma by a doctor, and to have been prescribed asthma medication before the age of 12. There was no effect in boys, and there was no effect of the mothers’ objective hardship.
These results demonstrate the power of a stressor in pregnancy to influence both the physical development and the mental health of the unborn child. Project Ice Storm continues to follow the children’s development, including brain MRI scans at the age of 16 years starting in September.
“If the stress of the ice storm could have such large effects on these children, helping to explain why some are sicker than others or have more atypical development than others, added Suzanne King, how much greater would the effects be with an even more stressful event in pregnancy or in disadvantaged families with fewer resources? Our research is showing us how vulnerable the unborn child is to his mother’s environment and her mood.”
###
About Project Ice Storm:
When the ice storms of January 1998 plunged more than 3 million Quebecers into darkness for as long as 45 days, the team seized the opportunity to study the effects of stress on pregnant women, their pregnancies, and their unborn children. It has been following a group of about 150 families, in which the mother was pregnant during the ice storm or became pregnant shortly thereafter, in order to observe the immediate effects of different levels and types of stress on the unborn children. It continues to follow these children who are now teenagers.
Among the team of scientists who conducted this study are Suzanne King, and Alain Brunet, from the Psychosocial Research Division of the Douglas Mental Health University Institute and from the Department of Psychiatry, (Faculty of Medicine) at McGill University, as well as David P Laplante also from the Douglas Institute. The results of this work have been published in the journals Biomedical Research International (asthma, May 8) and Psychiatry Research (autism, June). Project Ice Storm is funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
For information and interviews:
Florence Meney; Media Relations; Communications and Public Affairs Directorate
Douglas Mental Health University Institute; Dobell Pav.- 6875 LaSalle Blvd., B-2122 – Montreal, QC H4H 1R3
[/am4show]
