Earned Runs
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Request Bibs/Contact
  • GEAR LOVE
  • FAQ
  • Starter Checklist
  • RESOURCES*
  • Oh the Places You'll Go!
  • Generosity
  • THE HONOR SERIES
  • BONE STRENGTH FOR ATHLETES
  • About

Running before pregnancy

2/22/2016

2 Comments

 
Picture
THE RESULTS OF RESEARCH conducted by scientists at Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore MD and the Boston Medical Center were recently published in the medical journal Pediatrics ("The Association of maternal Obesity and Diabetes with Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities" by Li X, MD Fallin, et al) .

The study showed that the combination of both obesity and diabetes in women prior to pregnancy was associated with greater risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the children born to these mothers “than either obesity or diabetes alone, in particular when ASD “ was accompanied by an additional diagnosis of Intellectual Disability (ID).
 
WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH RUNNING? Many of us have difficulty when it comes to losing weight. However, as discussed in an earlier post (RUNNING AND PREDIABETES; February 1, 2016), most can increase our activity level to a degree that we help our bodies to decrease insulin resistance, the physiological state that leads to pre-diabetes and potentially diabetes. Prior to pregnancy, steps can be taken to minimize the effect obesity has on our ability to process blood sugar. Moderate consistent levels of exercise, which can be achieved with a running or walking training program, may POSSIBLY give women the chance to decrease their odds of developing diabetes in pregnancy.
See the article in Science Explorer for more discussion.
 
More details on the study:
“Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neuro-developmental disorder characterized by severe deficits in socialization, communication, and repetitive or unusual behaviors, affecting 1 in 68 US children”, the study states. Over about the same time period in the United States, from the 1960’s onward, the authors say, the “prevalence of ASD has dramatically increased” and obesity and diabetes have risen to “epidemic levels”. Before this study, no attempt had been made to “disentagle” the effect of the two conditions present in pregnant women, which often occur together, on the development of ASD although each has been linked to ASD.
 
The enrolled mother and child pairs were selected mostly from a poor, urban population with other well-recognized risk factors for ASD. Although the researchers made adjustments to their analyses to minimize possible biasing effects of this selection, they cautioned that other remaining factors, which could not be adjusted for such as genetic and other unknown risks, might still exist. As a result, they said the findings could not be generalized to be true in populations with “different social, demographic, and clinical characteristics”. The scientists also said the findings can mean that the underlying causes of ASD with ID may be different from ASD without ID.
 
It is possible, the researchers say, that poorly controlled or unrecognized high blood sugar levels in pregnant women, as can occur with pre-pregnancy and gestational diabetes during a early critical period in brain development, contributed to the increased risk of ASD in their children.
 
According to the authors, growing evidence points to inflammation as a possible culprit underlying the development of ASD. Obesity and diabetes cause an increase in the amount of inflammation-promoting substances in the blood of pregnant women (shown in rat models to lead to fetal brain inflammation) and in intrauterine tissues, respectively, both of which are implicated in the development of ASD.  In diabetes the mother’s elevated blood sugar also causes insulin levels to increase in the fetus, leading to a greater consumption of oxygen by fetal body tissues and a chronic state of low tissue oxygen (hypoxia). High maternal blood sugar is also associated with an increased production of tissue-damaging “stress” molecules called free radicals. Both hypoxia and tissue stress are implicated as risk factors for ASD. WHAT THIS BOILS DOWN TO IS THAT the developing fetal brain can suffer “multiple hits” in the presence of combined obesity and diabetes, “conferring an even higher risk of ASD in the offspring than a single condition”.

It's not uncommon for people to want to get in shape for future big events in their lives. Some events we cannot easily predict far in advance. Start getting ready for ANY big event NOW by finding and safely following a running training program so that you can check that huge "to-do" task off the list and begin any new life experience in a more fit body!

RUN HAPPY!

http://thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/babies-are-4x-more-likely-be-autistic-if-mother-obese-diabetic
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26826214
2 Comments
obstetrician in kondapur link
11/15/2017 01:51:36 am


Nice to be visiting your blog again, it has been months for me. Well this article that i’ve been waited for so long. I need this article to complete my assignment in the college, and it has same topic with your article. Thanks, great share.

Reply
Earned Runs
11/16/2017 06:36:56 am

Thanks, and welcome back! You can email Earned Runs (Request Bibs/Contact) and suggest a topic that relates to running, walking, or fitness. Not all topics make for a good post but that there's interest in one is a great reason to explore it. Happy the information was helpful to you.

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    BRIDGE TO PHYSICAL SELF
    Running, walking, and fitness activities enable us to experience our physical selves in a world mostly accessed through use of fingers on a mobile device.
    Picture
    Finished my first marathon, a virtual but real effort May 23, 2020. All rights reserved.

    Author

    EARNED RUNS is edited and authored by me, runner and founder.  I began participating in road races before 5Ks were common. I've been a dietitian, practiced and taught clinical pathology, and been involved with research that utilized pathology.  I am fascinated with understanding the origins of disease as well as health.

    Archives

    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015

    Categories

    All
    Greeting
    Image Only

    RSS Feed

    New! Search Box

    Earned Runs is now searchable! Check it out...
EARNED RUNS LLC                                                                                                                                                                                                    Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Request Bibs/Contact
  • GEAR LOVE
  • FAQ
  • Starter Checklist
  • RESOURCES*
  • Oh the Places You'll Go!
  • Generosity
  • THE HONOR SERIES
  • BONE STRENGTH FOR ATHLETES
  • About