Prophylactic Role for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Perinatal Programming of Adult Health

Abstract

The health status of an individual in adulthoodis proposed to be determined by events occurring in theprenatal and early postnatal period. A common early lifeevent proven to have long lasting effects on the developingfetus is stress, including pain. Exposure of fetal and neonatalinfants to repetitive psychological (e.g., maternal stress)or physiological (e.g., pain, infection, and noise) stress duringthis period is proposed to alter mechanisms involved inthe regulation of stress, immunological maturation, painperception, and cognition. Such changes, which persist intoadulthood, may occur via alterations in the development ofthe hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. This processis typically referred to as ‘perinatal programming’. Ontogenicalterations in the development of the HPA-axis havebeen related to a number of adult pathologies such as cardiovasculardisease, type 2 diabetes, asthma, as well as psychopathologiessuch as anxiety and depression. Objective:In this review, the effectiveness of complementary and alternativemedicine (CAM), such as music, dietary supplements,massage and aromatherapy, in reducing perinatal stress inmothers and infants is examined. An emphasis is placed onthese therapies as preventative measures which may be ofvalue to individuals at risk of developing disease profiles associatedwith the consequences of adverse perinatal programming.The widening interest in perinatal programmingand CAM suggests the potential for CAM to become a valuabletool in offsetting negative adult health outcomes resultingfrom perinatal programming associated with adversegestational early life environments.