Chicken or the egg? The biological-psychological controversy surrounding hyperemesis gravidarum

Abstract

Women's somatic complaints are more likely to be labeled by physicians and other health care professionals as psychologically based when the condition has an obscure etiology. Perhaps because of this, there are a number of medical conditions which have been underinvestigated and where erroneous assumptions about them exist. Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG)--severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy--is an example of such an illness. HG remains a puzzling condition for both physicians and patients because there is no known cause or cure. By its very nature, HG has a clearly established biological cause--pregnancy. Yet, because the exact causal pathophysiological mechanism is unknown, the organicity of the pregnant state is either minimized or ignored. This paper examines how HG is characterized in the literature and the empirical basis for psychogenesis. Analysis of the literature reveals a tension in the discourse such that both biologic and psychologic approaches to HG have existed in parallel tracks throughout history. Still, results support that sociocultural factors rather than scientific evidence have shaped the overarching and predominant illness paradigm of psychogenesis. Implications for women's health care and HG, in particular, are presented.Hyperemesis gravidarum Pregnancy complication Social construction of illness Psychogenic attribution