Family Health: Mother’s sleep affects baby’s weight gain in later life

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Mother’s sleep affects baby’s weight gain in later life

 

According to the new research conducted in the University of Chicago, disrupted sleep causes alterations in epigenetic modifications.

The researchers found an association between the excess weight and epigenetic modifications that reduce expression of the gene for adiponectin.

“Adiponectin is a hormone that helps regulate several metabolic processes, such as glucose regulation.”

Lower levels of adiponectin correlate with several phenomena in body including increased body fat and reduced activity, according to the paper published in the journal Diabete.

“For some women, sleep fragmentation, especially sleep apnea, can be profound. We wanted to devise a system that enabled us to measure the potential impact of fragmented sleep on the fetus, which is uniquely susceptible so early in life,” said sleep specialist at the University of Chicago David Gozal.

To find the clues, the research team devised experiments using pregnant mice divided into two groups, mice with normal sleep and those ones with fragmented sleep during days 15 through 19 of pregnancy, the mouse equivalent of the third trimester.

“Newborns from both groups weighed the same at birth and initially had normal feeding habits and growth trajectories.”

“But after 16 to 18 weeks, the mouse equivalent of early middle age, we noticed that the male mice born to moms with fragmented sleep were eating more. Their weights started creeping up,” Gozal explained.

Several other health problems also appeared in offspring from mothers with disrupted sleep, researchers claimed.

Poor quality and not enough sleep are common during pregnancy, when many women experience fragmented sleep and symptoms of insomnia.

The new findings reveal the importance of getting enough sleep as its consequences may be passed onto future generations.

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