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------------------------------------------------------------------- Depression Linked To Fetal Flu Exposure ------------------------------------------------------------------- NEW YORK (Reuters) -- Fetal exposure to the influenza virus may be linked to an increased risk for adult depression, researchers conclude. "Some mental disorders may stem, in part, from a disturbance in the development of the fetal brain," conclude American and Finnish researchers led by Dr. Ricardo Machon of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. Machon presented his findings, (published earlier this year in the Archives of General Psychiatry), at a recent Chicago meeting of the American Psychological Association. Researchers compared the prenatal health records of individuals born to mothers affected by a 1957 Finnish outbreak of Asian flu (virus type A2/Singapore), with those born of uninfected mothers in the months before the outbreak. They found that 13% of the adults who had been exposed in utero to the flu virus during the second trimester of fetal development suffered from one of a number of mood disturbances collectively labeled "affective disorders." In contrast, only 2% of adults without fetal flu exposure had a history of these types of conditions. Adult rates for affective disorder were higher for males exposed in utero (16%) than females (8%), the researchers add. Machon says it's too early to know just how fetal exposure to influenza might affect the neurological development of humans. "We're not saying that the flu is... specifically a cause for affective disorder," he said. And Machon does not recommend that women take any "extraordinary steps" to avoid influenza during pregnancy. However, he points out that that the second trimester (the third through sixth months) is a critical time period in fetal brain development, with newly-created neurons migrating to their permanent homes within the brain. Machon speculates that "any stressor" interfering with that process might negatively affect later neurological function. "It could be flu, it could be having been in an earthquake at a particular time. So it's more in the timing." Previous studies have pointed to links between fetal exposure to the same flu strain and heightened risks for adult schizophrenia. Machon said he and his Finnish partners are currently evaluating magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of adult schizophrenics "to see what the areas might be that are disturbed in the brain." By E.J. Mundell SOURCE: Archives of General Psychiatry (1997;54:322-328) 1997, Reuters Health eLine] http://www.medscape.com/reuters/fri/t1211-3f.html ------------------------------------------------------------------- janet [log in to unmask]