which I thought was quite interesting.
Took some extract from here. For full article, click here.
Dust mites, pollen, moulds and other substances in the environment are known triggers for asthma and allergies. But they don't fully explain rising rates of asthma or why there's more of the disease in inner city and lower income populations.
After testing 387 babies so far, the Boston researchers have found increased levels of antibodies involved in an allergic response in the cord blood of babies born to mothers who experienced higher levels of stress -- even when they were exposed to relatively low levels of dust while pregnant.
Stress can increase the amount of cortisol and adrenalin produced by the body. "If mom is under chronic stress these changes may be more persistent and can even be transmitted to the baby," Wright says. And cortisol can alter the immune system. "So when the baby is now exposed to increased cortisol from the mother this may change the way their immune system develops" and make them more vulnerable to develop asthma and allergies, she says.
