morning sickness - When it occurs, Causes, Treatments, Associations with miscarriage risk

Nausea and vomiting during the first three months of pregnancy, which affects c.50% of women. It tends to subside thereafter, and is believed to result from associated hormonal changes.

Morning sickness, also called "nausea and vomiting of pregnancy" (NVP) or pregnancy sickness, affects between 50 and 95 percent of all pregnant women.

When it occurs

Morning sickness is not confined to the morning: nausea can occur at any time of the day, though it most commonly occurs soon after waking because blood sugar levels are typically the most depressed after these hours without eating.

Morning sickness usually starts in the first month of the pregnancy, peaking in the 5th to 7th weeks, and continuing until the 14th to 16th week. For the other half, it may take up to another month to get relief but some women will have morning sickness off and on for their entire pregnancy.

Causes

There is insufficient evidence to pin down a single (or multiple) cause, but the leading theories include:

An increase in the circulating level of the hormone estrogen. Intake of alcohol, sugar, oils and meat, which have been postulated to cause a natural trigger of morning sickness in the body as a way of discouraging ingestion of less healthy foods.

Treatments

Treatments for morning sickness typically aim to lessen the symptoms of nausea, rather than attacking the root cause(s) of the nausea. Lemons, particularly the smelling of freshly cut lemons Fulfilling food cravings Eating dry crackers in the morning before you get up

A doctor may prescribe anti-nausea medications if the expectant mother suffers from dehydration or malnutrition as a result of her morning sickness.

Thalidomide tragedy

Thalidomide was originally developed and prescribed as a cure for morning sickness in Great Britain, but its use was discontinued when the drug's teratogenic properties came to light. The United States Food and Drug Administration never approved thalidomide for use as a cure for morning sickness.

Research

A recent Canadian survey conducted by researchers at the University of British Columbia and the University of Victoria suggested that the use of medical marijuana may be effective in combating morning sickness, although the researchers noted that their survey was not conclusive.

Associations with miscarriage risk

Studies have shown that women who suffer from morning sickness are less likely to have miscarriages, while other studies have shown that the majority of women who do miscarry had multiple pregnancy symptoms including pregnancy sickness. Some doctors refute the claim that lack of morning sickness indicates an increased risk of miscarriage. It is also mentioned that many women having a molar pregnancy or an ectopic pregnancy suffer strong nausea.