Expectant fathers experience prenatal hormone changes
2014-12-18
(Press-News.org) ANN ARBOR--Impending fatherhood can lower two hormones--testosterone and estradiol--for men, even before their babies are born, a new University of Michigan study found.
Other studies indicate that men's hormones change once they become fathers, and there is some evidence that this is a function of a decline after the child's birth. The new U-M study is the first to show that the decline may begin even earlier, during the transition to fatherhood, said Robin Edelstein, the study's lead author.
"We don't yet know exactly why men's hormones are changing," said Edelstein, U-M associate professor of psychology. "These changes could be a function of psychological changes that men experience as they prepare to become fathers, changes in their romantic relationships, or even physical changes that men experience along with their pregnant partners.
"Nevertheless, fathers' hormonal changes could have important implications for paternal behavior once their babies are born."
Expectant mothers experience significant hormone changes throughout the transition to parenthood, but less has been known about the prenatal hormone changes among soon-to-be fathers.
Edelstein and colleagues examined salivary testosterone, cortisol, estradiol and progesterone in 29 first-time expectant couples between the ages of 18 and 45. The saliva samples were obtained up to four times during the prenatal period at about 12, 20, 28 and 36 weeks of pregnancy.
Women showed large prenatal increases in all four hormones, while men saw declines in testosterone (which is associated with aggression and parental care) and estradiol (which is associated with caregiving and bonding). No changes were found in men's cortisol (a stress hormone) or progesterone (which is associated with social closeness and maternal behavior).
So it's not just about the presence of an infant that lowers testosterone, Edelstein said.
One limitation of the new study--as it relates to lower testosterone--is that researchers do not have a comparison group of men who are not expecting a child.
"Thus, we can't completely rule out the possibility that the changes are simply due to age or the passage of time," Edelstein said.
INFORMATION:
The study's co-authors are Britney Wardecker, William Chopik, Amy Moors, Emily Shipman and Natalie Lin.
The findings appear in the American Journal of Human Biology.
Study: Prenatal hormones in first-time expectant parents: Longitudinal changes and within-couple correlations
Researcher: Robin Edelstein
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2014-12-18
LONDON, UK (18 December 2014)--A new study released today presents powerful evidence that clearing trees not only spews carbon into the atmosphere, but also triggers major shifts in rainfall and increased temperatures worldwide that are just as potent as those caused by current carbon pollution. Further, the study finds that future agricultural productivity across the globe is at risk from deforestation-induced warming and altered rainfall patterns.
The report, "Effects of Tropical Deforestation on Climate Change and Agriculture," published today in Nature Climate Change ...
2014-12-18
Cuprates are materials with great promise for achieving superconductivity at higher temperatures (-120oC). This could mean low-cost electricity without energy loss. Intense research has focused on understanding the physics of cuprates in the hope that we can develop room-temperature superconductors. EPFL scientists have now used a cutting-edge technique to uncover the way cuprates become superconductors. Their work is published in Nature Communications.
Conventional superconductors are materials that conduct electricity with no electrical resistance under temperatures ...
2014-12-18
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (December 18, 2014) - Millions of Americans with severe allergies and asthma are prescribed medical devices to help relieve symptoms and sometimes, to treat potentially fatal allergic reactions. Unfortunately, very few people use their prescribed medical devices properly - even if they think they know how.
According to a new study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), misuse of epinephrine auto-injectors has been documented in cases ...
2014-12-18
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. (December 18, 2014) - Discovering your child has a severe food allergy can be a terrible shock. Even more stressful can be determining what foods your child can and cannot eat, and constructing a new diet which might eliminate entire categories of foods.
According to a new study published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), providing parents with detailed, individual advice from a dietician is a key component of effective food allergy care.
"We ...
2014-12-18
(PHILADELPHIA) - Prostate cancer affects more than 23,000 men this year in the USA however the individual genes that initiate prostate cancer formation are poorly understood. Finding an enzyme that regulates this process could provide excellent new prevention approaches for this common malignancy. Sirtuin enzymes have been implicated in neurodegeneration, obesity, heart disease, and cancer. Research published online Thursday (Dec 18th) in The American Journal of Pathology show the loss of one of sirtuin (SIRT1) drives the formation of early prostate cancer (prostatic intraepithelial ...
2014-12-18
A new study has found that children born prematurely show differences in a subtle but important aspect of memory: the ability to form and retrieve memories about context, such as what, when, and where something happened. This type of memory is important, but can be missed on the usual set of direct assessments. The new research suggests that it may be valuable to find targeted ways to help strengthen this aspect of memory in children born preterm.
The study also found that the hippocampus region of the brain is smaller in children born prematurely. This is the part of ...
2014-12-18
Infants who frequently react to unfamiliar objects, people, and situations by becoming afraid and withdrawing are referred to as having a behaviorally inhibited temperament. As these infants grow up, many continue to be inhibited or reticent when they experience new things, including meeting new people. Inhibited children are more likely than their peers to develop anxiety problems, especially social anxiety, as they get older. A new longitudinal study has found that behavioral inhibition that persists across early childhood is associated with social anxiety in adolescence, ...
2014-12-18
Do the effects of early caregiving experiences remain or fade as individuals develop? A new study has found that sensitive caregiving in the first three years of life predicts an individual's social competence and academic achievement, not only during childhood and adolescence, but also into adulthood.
The study, by researchers at the University of Minnesota, the University of Delaware, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, appears in the journal Child Development. It was carried out in an effort to replicate and expand on findings from the NICHD Study ...
2014-12-18
Boston, MA -- Women exposed to high levels of fine particulate matter specifically during pregnancy--particularly during the third trimester--may face up to twice the risk of having a child with autism than mothers living in areas with low particulate matter, according to a new study from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH). The greater the exposure, the greater the risk, researchers found. It was the first U.S.-wide study exploring the link between airborne particulate matter and autism.
"Our data add additional important support to the hypothesis that maternal exposure ...
2014-12-18
For frail older adults living in long-term care facilities, the high-dose influenza vaccine appears to be a better option than the regular shot, producing a stronger immune response than the standard vaccine, according to a study published in The Journal of Infectious Diseases and now available online. High-dose vaccine may play a key role, along with improving vaccination rates among health care workers and other strategies, in preventing flu in this vulnerable and growing population.
About 90 percent of the deaths associated with influenza in the U.S. annually are among ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Expectant fathers experience prenatal hormone changes
