Research finds a strong link between morning sickness Helicobacter pylori

Dr Nilda Santiago of Ponce Gastroenterology Research in Puerto Rico presented the findings to the American College of Gastroenterology's annual meeting in New York City.

Santiago and her colleagues compared 45 pregnant women who had severe morning sickness - defined as daily nausea and vomiting - with 44 pregnant women who had no symptoms. The women were all between their sixth and 16th weeks of pregnancy. Blood samples taken to detect the presence of H. pylori antibodies.

"Eighty-nine percent of the women we tested with severe morning sickness tested positive for H. pylori." Dr Nilda Santiago.

Of the 45 women with morning sickness, 40 tested positive for the antibodies, while only three of the 44 women without morning sickness symptoms tested positive, the study says.

Commenting on the study, Dr Steven Field, a gastroenterologist at the New York University Medical Center, pointed out that it tested only for H. pylori antibodies rather than for active H. pylori infection.