October 4, 2012
Connie K. Ho for redOrbit.com Your Universe Online
Researchers from the American Academy of Neurology recently found that a mothers high blood pressure during pregnancy could impact a childs cognitive skills long into adulthood.
The findings of the study were recently published in the online version of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
High blood pressure and related conditions such as preeclampsia complicate about 10 percent of all pregnancies and can affect a babys environment in the womb, explained the studys author Katri Riknen, a professor at the University of Helsinki in Finland.
Our study suggests that even declines in thinking abilities in old age could have originated during the prenatal period when the majority of the development of brain structure and function occurs.
In the study, the researchers examined medical records from the mothers of 398 men who were born between 1934 and 1944. Along with identifying the mothers blood pressure, the scientists tested the mens thinking abilities at age 20 and again at around 69 years of age. They also compiled data on the participants language and math skills as well as visual and spatial relationships.
The team of investigators discovered that the men whose mothers had high blood pressure scored about 4.36 points lower on the tests than the men whose mothers did not have high blood pressure. At both ages 20 and age 69 these men score lower than their counterparts. Their scores also tended to decline more quickly over time than the men whose mothers did not have high blood pressure.
Maternal hypertensive disorders in pregnancy predict lower cognitive ability and greater cognitive decline up to old age, noted the researchers in an article by the Daily Mail. A propensity to lower cognitive ability and decline up to old age may have prenatal origins.
Furthermore, the researchers studied whether premature birth would impact the findings and found that early birth did not affect the score in the same way. Additionally, the fathers occupation did not appear to influence the participants scores, and the scores did not change for participants whose fathers worked as manual laborers or office workers.
Originally posted here:
High Blood Pressure In Pregnancy May Curb Child’s IQ
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