Morning sickness;the culprit!
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
There are no specifics causes on feeling nausea during pregnancy, but it’s probably some combination of the many physical changes taking place in your body. Some possible causes include:
• Rising levels of the hormone human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) during early pregnancy. No one knows how hCG contributes to nausea, but the timing is right: Nausea tends to peak around the same time as levels of hCG.
Estrogen, another hormone that rises rapidly in early pregnancy, is also considered a prime suspect, and it’s possible that other hormones play a role as well.
• Enhanced sense of smell and sensitivity to odors. It’s not uncommon for a newly pregnant woman to feel overwhelmed by the smell of a bologna sandwich from four cubicles away, for example, and that certain aromas instantly trigger her gag reflex. This may be a result of higher levels of estrogen.
• A tricky stomach. Some women’s gastrointestinal tracts are simply more sensitive to the changes of early pregnancy.
However there is a myth suggesting that morning sickness can be caused by a vitamin B deficiency. While taking a vitamin B6 supplement does seem to help ease nausea in many pregnant women, this doesn’t mean they have a vitamin deficiency. In fact, at least one study has shown no significant differences in the levels of B6 in women with morning sickness and those without.
No one knows why B6 is helpful. There’s also some evidence that taking a multivitamin at the time of conception and in early pregnancy helps prevent severe morning sickness, but again, no one knows why.
