“Katherina Dalton observed that her patients who suffered from PMS (and were benefitted by progesterone treatment) were likely to develop “toxemia” when they became pregnant, and to have problems at the time of menopause. In these women, it is common for “menstruation” to continue on the normal cycle during the first several months of pregnancy. This cyclic bleeding seems to represent times of an increased ratio of estrogen to progesterone, and during such periods of cyclic bleeding the risk of miscarriage is high. Researchers found that a single injection of progesterone could sometimes eliminate the signs of toxemia for the remainder of the pregnancy. Katherina Dalton, who continued to give her patients progesterone throughout pregnancy, later learned that the babies treated in this way were remarkably healthy and bright, while the average baby delivered after a “toxemic” pregnancy has an IQ of only 85.
Marian Diamond’s work with rats clearly showed that increased exposure to estrogen during pregnancy reduced the size of the cerebral cortex and the animals’ ability to learn, while progesterone increased the brain size and intelligence. Zamenhof’s studies suggested that these hormones probably have their effects largely through their actions on glucose, though they also affect the availability of oxygen in the same way, and have a variety of direct effects on brain cells that would operate toward the same end.
If Katherina Dalton’s patients’ IQs averaged 130, instead of the expected 85, the potential social effects of proper health care during pregnancy are enormous.
But there is evidence that healthy gestation affects more than just the IQ. Strength of character, ability to reason abstractly, and the absence of physical defects, for example, are strongly associated with weight at birth.
Government studies and Social Security statistics suggest the size of the problem. The National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke found that birth weight was directly related to IQ at age four, and that up to half of all children who were underweight at birth have an IQ under 70.(Chase.) According to standard definitions, about 8% of babies in the U.S. have low birth weight.” -Ray Peat
Author
Cari