The Know Daily - Thursday 14 December 2023

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Media coverage of women’s sports has nearly tripled in five years, according to a new report. Bolstered by high-profile events such as the Women’s World Cup, the average share of sports media coverage across broadcast, streaming platforms, social media and digital publications hit 15% in 2022 - and this figure should be close to 20% by 2025. Howzat?!

🩺 Hope for pregnancy sickness sufferers

Scientists have discovered why some women suffer from more severe morning sickness than others during pregnancy - a breakthrough which could lead to a possible cure.

Tell me more.
Severe morning sickness, also known as hyperemesis gravidarum, is thought to affect between one and three in 100 pregnancies. It’s the leading cause of hospital admissions during the first trimester but is an understudied area of medicine and often overlooked by doctors, said The New York Times (NYT). The Duchess of Wales and Amy Schumer have both suffered from the condition.

Now, a new study published in the scientific journal Nature has confirmed prior research which suggested that the nausea and vomiting which so often define the first three months of pregnancy are primarily caused by one single hormone: GDF15. 

GDF what?
GDF15 is a hormone produced by babies in the womb, as well as “at low levels in all tissues outside pregnancy”, said The Guardian. The research suggests that women who are exposed to lower levels of the hormone before pregnancy tend to experience more severe symptoms when it surges during the first trimester. 

As part of the study, the researchers also looked at women with a rare blood disorder called beta thalassemia, which causes chronically high levels of GDF15. They found that these women experienced very little nausea or vomiting in pregnancy, again confirming a link between the hormone and sickness.

How could this lead to a cure?
Researchers think that building up women’s tolerance to GDF15 before pregnancy could make them less sensitive to the “sharp surge” experienced when the foetus begins to develop, said the NYT.

There’s hope that in the future, those with hyperemesis gravidarum could take medications which would block the hormone’s effects in the brain (if the drugs were deemed safe in pregnancy).

“Hopefully, now that we understand the cause of hyperemesis gravidarum, we’re a step closer to developing effective treatments to stop other mothers going through what I and many other women have experienced,” said study co-author Dr Marlena Fejzo.