IL NEONATO E LA GASTROENTEROLOGIA
Functional gastrointestinal disorders in the first months of life: the mother/brain/gut axis (of the newborn)
Raffaella Panza, Mariella Baldassarre
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche ed Oncologia Umana, Sezione di Neonatologia e TIN, Università di Bari
Functional gastrointestinal disorders are often extremely distressing for the infant and parents, leading to infant discomfort and crying, parental anxiety, repeated healthcare consultations, and escalating healthcare costs. Maternal psychological disorders may be correlated to infantile functional gastrointestinal disorders. Whether it is the excessive crying that favors the onset of maternal psychological disorders or, in contrast, an altered attachment style due to the maternal status that facilitates the onset of functional gastrointestinal disorders in the infant is still an open question. Recent findings revealed that both anxious and depressed mothers are more likely to have an adverse gut microbiome.