Boston, MA – Yet again, it appears that what a mother does during pregnancy can affect her child later in life.

Pregnancy typically has profound influences on the mother’s body. A key symptom for many women is heartburn. Heartburn, or acid reflux, occurs in over 8 out of 10 pregnancies. As a result, acid suppressing drugs may be taken in order to deal with this condition, especially where symptoms are severe.

With this in mind, researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston performed a large population-based study tracking the mother’s prescription use with the children’s later treatment for allergies and asthma. They found that kids with mothers who had taken acid-suppressing drugs during pregnancy had a much higher rate of asthma compared to other children not exposed to these drugs in utero. These children also showed an increased rate of hospitalization or prescriptions for allergic symptoms.

Mothers who already had allergies themselves did not substantially increase their child’s risk of allergies – they were already at a much increased risk versus the general population. However, among non-allergic mothers, use of acid suppressors significantly increased the risk of an allergic child.

The research team reviewed mother-child data using 3 key national health registers in Sweden. These registers contain information on all births, hospitalizations and drug prescriptions. By linking these registers together, the team was able to look at children who had been hospitalized or prescribed drugs for allergic symptoms and then trace back to their mother’s prescription drug history during pregnancy.

Data was analyzed on over 585,000 children. Of these children, just under 1 percent had been exposed to acid suppression medication while in utero. Maternal use of these drugs were associated with a 43 per cent increase in the risk that the child would be hospitalized or prescribed drugs for allergic symptoms. Asthma was the most frequently reported allergic symptom, with children of mothers on acid suppressors showing a 51 per cent increase in this condition.

Previous studies have already shown that adults taking acid suppressing medication can become allergic to foods that they eat. Scientists hypothesize that acid suppressing drugs result in food being incompletely digested. If the food proteins are not fully broken down by the stomach, the immune system can then begin to react to it as an allergen.

One of the lead researchers, Elizabeth Halt, said that there are many non-drug strategies to reduce and relieve heartburn for pregnant women, including smaller meals and avoiding heartburn triggers such as caffeine, spicy foods and peppermint. However, some women have such severe heartburn that the pain prevents them from eating properly. In these cases, the woman and her doctor will need to evaluate the severity of acid reflux symptoms to decide whether or not medication is necessary, keeping in mind that proper nutrition is also vital to the unborn baby.

Source: International Business Times