It’s been known since the ancient times that our state of mind affects our physical health to some degree; but recent studies have shown that our “thinking habits” are more responsible for good health than most people realize. Case in point: a new study quoted in the Washington Post indicates that pregnant mothers with elevated stress levels are more likely to give birth to a child with asthma or allergy problems.
The studies author, Roslyn Wright, from Harvard Medical School and a professor of medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital found that stress made women more vulnerable to allergens, so that even exposure to a relatively low level of allergens could cause a major reaction in highly stressed individuals.
Even worse, the study found that pregnant women experiencing a great deal of stress could also pass down a compromised immune system to their newborn babies. The study followed the pregnancies of 315 women, and used standardized stress inventory questionnaires to determine the women’s general state of mind.
The result of the study indicated that mothers with three or more stress factors (as reported on a standardized questionnaire) had a 12% greater chance of giving birth to a child with elevated levels of IgE in their blood, which is typical of children who develop asthma and allergies later in life, though there can also be other factors.
The researchers involved in the study caution pregnant women to not be overly concerned about the correlation between stress during pregnancy and asthma or allergies in children. In fact, in some ways it is counterproductive for expectant mothers to even know that their stress levels can affect the health of their unborn child.
Think about it: an expectant mother might read about the new research and immediately began to worry that she might harm her child’s health if she becomes anxious or stressed — but by worrying about this she is doing the exact thing that causes the problem in the first place, so it is a bit of a Catch-22 situation.
Rather than increase the problem by worrying about worrying, many doctors are suggesting that pregnant mothers use relaxation exercises, meditation and yoga during pregnancy to help them keep a sunny disposition, while avoiding stress-inducing situations, high-drama television programs and even awkward conversations with family members.
And it’s not just pregnant women that can benefit from adjusting their attitude — more and more research is demonstrating that stress and anxiety are strong contributors to many diseases and disorders. So when it comes to taking care of your health, the golden rule seems to be, “take care of your state of mind first — your body will follow.”
Stress is handled differently by each individual and that means not all women react the same way to stress — we need to be careful with this information.
Comment by Claude Gelinas — July 4, 2008 @ 12:16 am