Nausea and Vomiting of Pregnancy

Scientific View and Research Result

Mayo Clinic : What’s the possible connection between nausea and vomiting during pregnancy and a reduced risk of pregnancy loss? Shortly after a fertilized egg attaches to your uterine lining, your body begins producing the hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG). hCG has been linked to nausea and vomiting—women with severe morning sickness have higher  hCG levels than other pregnant women. Women pregnant with multiples, who are more likely to experience morning sickness, also have higher hCG levels.

Similarly, estrogen, another hormone that increases during pregnancy, is associated with an increased frequency of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. It's possible that nausea and vomiting during pregnancy might indicate that you're experiencing the normal climb in pregnancy hormones needed for a healthy pregnancy. However, high pregnancy hormone levels aren't consistently associated with nausea and vomiting.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/pregnancy-week-by-week/expert-answers/nausea-during-pregnancy/faq-20057917

human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) : a kind of gonadotropin It’s produced immediately after conception from the embryonic, in the part of the placenta. Its important role is for maintaining the pregnancy, preventing to decompose the corpus luteum (Yellow Body) in the ovary, keeping to produce progesterone. Also, producing this hormone through the collaboration of the fetus and the mother.

Originally, gonadotropin is produced in the pituitary gland, but since hCG is secreted from the placenta during pregnancy. The hypothalamus, which is the control tower of the central nervous system, is likely to cause confusion due to this unusual action. This is also considered to be one cause of nausea and vomiting.

placenta : It is the first made organ and supports the new-born life until birth, It provides oxygen, nourition, waste disposal and CO2 emission through blood. It has functions of the lungs, liver, kidneys and other organs until the fetal ones kick in.

Corpus luteum (Yellow Body) : A small temporary endocrine tissue, formed by follicle (egg bag)  that’s recycled from the egg bag after the egg got out there (one bag has just one egg).                                                                                                                               

It releases steroid hormones, estrogen and progesterone to soften, 

thicken and maintain the endometrium ( the bed for the fetus ) in mummy’s tummy.

Progesterone : softens the child’s bed, to develop the mammary gland and control diuretic action, to continuing pregnancy by raising body temperature.

Gonadotropin : A gonadotropic hormone secreted from the anterior pituitary gland.

NCBI：Nausea, retching and vomiting are very commonly experienced by women in early pregnancy. There are considerable physical, social and psychological effects on women who experience these symptoms up to 20 weeks' gestation. This is an update of a review of interventions for nausea and vomiting in early pregnancy previously published in 2010.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24659261

< Super brief >

· Various studies have been done for morning sickness, but there are no research for diet can be found

· There was little information for acupressure, there was no research that could prove that effect

· There are only few studies that vitamin B-6 and other medicines stop nausea

· There is no cure that the site recommends with confidence that "This works ! ” for morning sickness at all

Another Medical Voices

• Morning sickness begins at around 5-6 weeks gestation, getting worse at 8-10 weeks and goes well for around 12-16 weeks. hCG begins to appear in the blood from 4-5 weeks, becomes the highest concentration around 8-12 weeks and becomes low at about 16 weeks, so it is similar to the morning symptom appearance time.
• When hormones in the blood of pregnant women are measured, hCG and estradiol are elevated. hCG has no vomiting effect, but estradiol does, and women who is sensitive to estrogen are tend to have severe morning sickness. 
• The estrogen sensitivity is highly genetic. A woman with a mother whose severe morning sickness is tends to have a severe morning sickness.

Estradiol: the major component of estrogen

  

https://webview.isho.jp/journal/detail/abs/10.11477/mf.1414100454?p=firstTab&englishFlg=2

• Pregnant women who have morning sickness, about 50 to 75% reduction in miscarriage risk compared to pregnant women who does not. "There is the possibility that a healthy pregnancy may be encouraged by reducing the risk of women's diet being reduced by morning sickness and thus exposing the fetus to toxins," specialist says.
• A period of severe morning sickness overlaps with pregnancy 3 months, when fetuses are prone to malformations. It is also possible that morning sickness keeps a pregnant woman away from the causative substance at the most dangerous time for the fetus.

https://www.j-cast.com/2016/10/03279329.html?p=all

Relationship between odor and morning sickness

The sense of smell is transmitted to "cerebral limbic system" directly, which is said to “ instinct, emotion and memory brain”, since the other five senses pass the "thinking brain” once before get  there. 

Pregnant women determine instinctively whether good or bad smell instantly. It takes less than about 0.2 seconds. Oh and, the toothache takes less than 0.9 seconds, so the smell gains the brain faster than pain.

They felt uncomfortable by the smell of rice cooking, the smell of various foods, the smell of crowd .... The origin of the smell is "ammonia", It depends on the amount but in fact most of the food contains ammonia and people’s oder also contains ammonia smell from sweat.

*** Measures ***

• Drink or eat sour foods : Citric acid neutralize ammonia smell, that’s why many pregnant women who prefer citrus fruits, vinegars, fermented foods.
• Cool down the food at room temperature : If the food is warm,* feel the ammonia odor more, so eat room temperature or the fridge temperature food.

Breast fullness and the sensibility

Estrogen doesn’t only promote the development of the uterus, but it’s also grows the breast duct that’s why pregnant women feel the breast fullness.

Progesterone is secreted more frequently in pregnancy, but because it has a effect to be sensitiveness more, so pregnant women may feel more sensitivity around nipples due to breast fullness. 

*** Measures ***

• Do not warm your chest so much. (Tension may become stronger if it warms so much)
• Avoid tightening underwear.
• Get a soft massage

Few things that can be expected to reduce nausea and vomiting

• Eat something in the bed before waking up: alleviating the sensibility of empty stomach by eating something in the bed

• Acupressure Band for Wrist: The wife of my shiatsu teacher used it during pregnancy. The point is called Pericardium # 3 : below three fingers of the lateral line of the inside of the   palm, it also effective for carsickness.                                                                                                                                       

                 

• Take some cooked ginger: Many pregnant women feel relief of morning symptoms by taking ginger. It contains a lot of pungent ingredients called Gingerol that has an effect on nerves that hold nausea. However, the stimulation is strong, some people feel cold by sweating a lot, so I want you to cook it or choose the dried : that changes Gingeol to Shogaol, that can warm your body gently.

• Moxibustion to the point of the sole of the foot : Moxibustion on the extra point, the sole side of Stomach Meridian #44 (see the red point of the image). I used charcoaled moxibustion stick (the image) for my partner when she was in  early pregnancy, because it doesn’t have smoke. She slept immediately after she get this moxibustion. Approaching the area by the stick slowly but please keep   to ask the person all the time to make sure it doesn’t too hot. Put the stick away for a while to cool down when the person feels hot , repeat 3 times.