Drug Use During Pregnancy has Negative Impact on Baby's Stress Response System

Using a central system stimulant drug methamphetamine during pregnancy leads to blunted stress response in children, a new study says.

According to lead researcher of the study Namik Kirlic from the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma and colleagues, children who display abnormal response to stressful situations are at greater risks of many health problems, including depression, anxiety and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

"The lack of hormonal stress response that we observed in these children has serious implications, such as a greater risk for depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder," Kirlic said in a news release.

For the study, they looked at 123 children aged 2 and their mothers. All the children were exposed to meth while in the mother's womb and were growing up in a stressful environment like mother addicted to alcohol, suffering from depression or other mental health problems.

Researchers exposed the children to stress by leaving them alone in a room for two seconds. The participants' saliva was collected and tested to determine the levels of the stress hormone cortisol before and after the experiment.

About 68 percent of the children had blunted cortisol response. Researchers found the exposure to meth in the womb, along with the stressful environment at home, contributing to this occurrence.

"It's not the meth alone," senior researcher Dr. Barry Lester said. "It's the combination of meth exposure and adversity after birth. We see other things coming into play-the mother's psychological health, alcohol use, exposure to violence at home or in the community. The postnatal environment is hugely important."

The drug, which is known to stimulate the nervous system, interferes with the development of stress-response in the fetus, Lester while explaining the occurrence, said. However, according to him, providing a healthy environment after birth can solve the side-effects of pre-natal meth exposure.

"If you put that child in a good environment, he or she has every chance of developing normally," Lester said. "I think it's important that these children not get labeled."

The study is scheduled to be published in the May issue of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs.