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  4. In the HPA section where you talked about babies whose mothers experienced a lot of stress while in the womb and how sometimes they have lower cortisol response throughout their life, do you know at what time during gestation the stress typically would have occurred? I would guess earlier on in gestation when the brain is forming, but was curious what the research had shown. Also was curious if you had any recommendation for these patients or perhaps we would get to that in a later section when we talk about supplements that may be used for people with low cortisol?

In the HPA section where you talked about babies whose mothers experienced a lot of stress while in the womb and how sometimes they have lower cortisol response throughout their life, do you know at what time during gestation the stress typically would have occurred? I would guess earlier on in gestation when the brain is forming, but was curious what the research had shown. Also was curious if you had any recommendation for these patients or perhaps we would get to that in a later section when we talk about supplements that may be used for people with low cortisol?

Chris Kresser:  Yea, this is a heartbreaking thing. It can happen in utero. It can happen even early on in childhood because our brains are still developing when we’re infants and very young children.  So in those patients they may just need some form of HPA axis support on an ongoing basis in order to feel completely well. That’s just something to be aware of. If you’re treating and they’re improving, and then you’re trying to get them off of the protocol and they keep getting worse and they can’t solidify the improvement, then that’s one possibility.  

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