A gene would explain why some women suffer less during childbirth.
Why do some women manage to give birth while naturally supporting the pain? According to English researchers, this would be linked to genetics. Some women have a rare gene that gives them greater resistance to pain and exempts them from epidurals. The research appeared in the journal Cell reports.
Some women carry a genetic variant that acts like a natural #epiduralwhich might explain why they don’t ask for pain relief during #childbirth.
New study by Ewan St. John Smith @psalmotoxinMichael Lee @PainRamblesand colleagues: https://t.co/vvU79lxSUh#genetics
— Cambridge University (@Cambridge_Uni) July 22, 2020
Pain resistance tests
“It’s rare that women don’t ask for gas and air, or an epidural for pain relief during labor, especially when giving birth for the first time.”, explains Michael Lee, professor anesthesiologist at the University of Cambridge and co-author of the study. With his team, they recruited a group of women for the study. All had given birth to their first child without asking for an epidural.
Several analyzes were carried out to assess their level of pain: their arms were exposed to heat and pressure, and their hands plunged into icy water. At the same time, the same examinations were administered to women who had had the same type of delivery, but under an epidural. In this control group, the women felt more pain during the various trials. Conversely, the others were able to withstand high thresholds regardless of the test. The researchers found no differences in emotional and cognitive abilities between these two groups of women.
A kind of natural epidural
The second part of the study focused on genetic analysis. The genetic codes of women of both groups were sequenced. Women with better pain tolerance have a rare variation in the KCNG4 gene, which impairs the ability of nerve cells to send signals to the brain. This defect in the pain circuitry is what allows women to endure childbirth without medication. Ewan St John Smith, pharmacologist and co-author, even mentions a “natural epidural. According to scientists, approximately 1 in 100 women are affected. They hope to be able to use these results to develop new drugs to manage pain.
According to a study published in 2015, 77% of French women use epidurals.
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