Could Pregnancy Truly be to Blame??

[Zizzle]

Many of you know my AI skin issues and antibodies started after my first pregnancy. The LC started after my second pregnancy. This article may well say it all... They call it healthy changes to support the pregnancy...I call it altered.

http://consumer.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=667218

Over the course of their pregnancy, the women's gut microbes became less "normal" and less diverse. The investigators also found that the number of beneficial bacteria declined as levels of disease-related bacteria increased. There also was evidence that inflammation increased during the women's pregnancies.

"By the third trimester, the microbiota can induce changes in metabolism," Ley said. "In the context of pregnancy, these metabolic changes in the mother are healthy, because they promote energy storage in fat tissue and help support the fetus. Outside of pregnancy, however, these changes can lead to the development of type 2 diabetes and other health problems."

How did they not go further and test whether these women's microbiota returned back to normal after their pregnancies?!?

A few things come to mind that may help explain these findings:

1. High levels of estrogen in pregnancy, which we know can also cause inflammation and may be associated with AI diseases.
2. Suppressed immune system during pregnancy, which may invite the disease-causing bacteria to proliferate.
3. Altered glucose metabolism in pregnancy, which encourages sugar-loving microbes and yeast to proliferate.

[tex]

Hi Zizzle,

I believe you've pretty well nailed the reasons for the changes in gut microbiota during pregnancy. Expecting those researchers to recognize something so obvious is expecting a lot, however. As you know, every research report written these days ends with the phrase, "more research is needed before any firm conclusions can be reached" (or something to that effect). They'll probably get around to investigating the reasons you stated, and postpartum gut bacteria trends, sometime over the next 30 or 40 years (they'll try to make a career out of it if they can possibly round up adequate funding).

I agree with you, I don't understand why they would be surprised that pregnancy alters gut bacteria because the changes and the resulting issues that you mentioned are well known.

Tex

[Chel22]

While I was pregnant last year I found my symptoms to be far better than ever before. I don't think that it's any better or worse post pregnancy. Interesting article though.