(NewsNation) – Scientists have identified the cause of severe morning sickness. According to a Study led by the University of Cambridge As published Wednesday in the journal Nature, nausea and vomiting during pregnancy are linked to a single hormone.

GDF15 is a hormone that acts on the brainstem. The production of GDF15 in the fetal part of the placenta and the mother’s sensitivity to it can lead to severe morning sickness, the researchers write.

“The baby growing in the womb produces a hormone at a level that the mother is not used to. The more sensitive she is to this hormone, the sicker she becomes,” explained Cambridge professor Stephen O’Rahilly.

The amount of the hormone GDF15 in a woman’s blood during pregnancy and her exposure to this hormone before pregnancy also sometimes determine the severity of morning sickness.

“The researchers showed that the level of nausea and vomiting a woman experiences during pregnancy is directly related to the amount of GDF15 produced by the fetal part of the placenta and passed into her bloodstream, and how sensitive she is to it “Nauseous effect reacts.” Hormone,” said the University of Cambridge in a Press release.

The hormone is produced in small quantities in all tissues outside of pregnancy. Cambridge notes that women with normally low levels of GDF15 in their blood are at higher risk of developing severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.

As many as seven out of ten pregnancies are affected by nausea and vomiting. But Cambridge says In one to three pregnancies in 100, morning sickness can be severe and sometimes life-threatening. This is often called hyperemesis gravidarum and is the most common cause of hospitalization in women in the first three months of pregnancy.

Dr. Marlena Fejzo from the Department of Population and Public Health Sciences at the University of Southern California was a co-author of the study. She has personal experience with hyperemesis gravidarum.

“When I was pregnant I became so sick that I could barely move without getting sick. When I tried to figure out why, I realized how little was known about my condition, even though pregnancy sickness is very common.” DR. Fejzo said.

The study’s findings on GDF15 and pregnancy suggest a possible route to preventing morning sickness and hyperemesis gravidarum.

Mice exposed to acute, high levels of GDF15 showed signs of loss of appetite, suggesting they may be suffering from nausea. However, mice treated with a long-acting form of GDF15 did not show similar symptoms when exposed to acute levels of the hormone.

With this in mind, researchers believe that building GDF15 tolerance in women before pregnancy could be key to preventing disease.

“Now that we understand the cause of hyperemesis gravidarum, we are hopefully one step closer to developing effective treatments to prevent other mothers from experiencing what I and many other women have experienced,” said Dr. Fejzo.

The study “GDF15 associated with maternal risk of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy” published by Nature can be found Here.