Hugs change a baby’s genetics for years

Pam Baker / 30 November, 2017 / General Epigenetics News

Science has known for decades that depriving babies of human touch is extremely detrimental and often fatal. What wasn’t known until recently is that the opposite produces beneficial effects that last for years. Hugging a baby has a positive impact on its epigenetics.





Researchers from the University of British Columbia in Canada are quick to point out that their research on the effects of cuddles is still in the early stages. But initial findings are already producing useful insights on how touching affects the epigenome.





Ninety-four babies were studied in British Columbia. Parents kept diaries of touching and cuddling habits, caretaker handling durations, and of their baby’s behaviors, from five weeks old and forward.





“Four-and-a-half years later, DNA swabs were taken of the kids to analyze a biochemical modification called DNA methylation. It's an epigenetic mechanism in which some parts of the chromosome are tagged with small carbon and hydrogen molecules, often changing how genes function and affecting their expression,” explains a report in Science Alert.





The researchers found DNA methylation differences associated with the amount of touching at five specific DNA sites. Two are within genes, one each in the immune and metabolic systems.





The full implications in childhood and adult health are yet to be discovered. However, discrepancies between epigenetic age and chronological age have been linked to poor health in several recent studies. Children in this study with low and infrequent touch contact had an “epigenetic age that was lower than would be expected, given their actual age,” according to the researcher’s report.





“We plan to follow up on whether the ‘biological immaturity’ we saw in these children carries broad implications for their health, especially their psychological development,” says lead author Sarah Moore, a postdoctoral fellow. “If further research confirms this initial finding, it will underscore the importance of providing physical contact, especially for distressed infants.”













This study correlates with another study published this week in the journal JAMA Psychiatry which found that the daughters of 50,000 Finnish females evacuated during the Second World War carried the effects of their mother’s childhood trauma.





“Many studies have shown that traumatic exposures during pregnancy can have negative effects on offspring,” coauthor Stephen Gilman, an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, says in a press release.





“Here, we found evidence that a mother’s childhood traumatic exposure—in this case separation from family members during war—may have long-lasting health consequences for her daughters.”





The researchers have yet to peg the cause of this but say that it’s possible that epigenetic differences were passed on through the oocyte. It’s also true that other causes, such as parenting styles, may have had an effect on these children too.





Even so, the possibility that the evacuee experience resulted in epigenetic changes is strong.





“The researchers cited an earlier finding that Holocaust survivors have higher levels of compounds known as methyl groups bound to the gene FKBP5 and have passed this change on to their children. This higher level of methyl groups appears to alter the production of cortisol, a hormone that regulates the stress response,” according to the press release on the study.





Bottom line, hug an infant or a child today. In doing so, you’re likely building a better, healthier future for them and their offspring. You might even be reshaping your own epigenetics in a positive way too – all for the price of a hug.



