Did you know that smoking during pregnancy could affect the lives of your grandkids even if their mother doesn't smoke? Well, research has shown that smoking during pregnancy has some trans-generational effects. It's well known that smoking during pregnancy could harm the unborn baby and the mother. However, many people don't know that smoking during pregnancy has adverse effects on future generations! Biomedical researcher, Hitendra Chand from Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine says that even second-hand cigarette smoke exposure when pregnant could have a damaging impact on the upcoming generations.
Chand and fellow scientists from Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute studied the impacts of second-hand cigarette exposure on some animals. The outcome was amazing!. They found that exposing the pregnant animals to second-hand smoking damaged the lungs of the fetus. They also realized that the effects of smoke exposure were extended to the second generation whose mothers hadn't been exposed to smoking.
According to the Medical Xpress, the research study was documented in Frontiers in Immunology Journal. Past studies have warned that being exposed to cigarette smoke during pregnancy could harm the pregnancy, and it could lead to premature births, low birth weight, and birth abnormalities such as the cleft palate and cleft lip. Exposing young infants to smoke could lead to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, lung ailments such as asthma, pneumonia, bronchitis, and even ear infections. Even though cigarette-smoking rates have gone down in the past few years, more campaign needs to be done to raise awareness on the effects of cigarette smoke during pregnancy.
The FDA has proposed that cigarette packs and adverts should have around 13 new warnings. The warning notices should include the dangers of smoking in children, such as smoking during pregnancy prevents fetal growth, and Tobacco smoke is harmful to your children. These warning campaigns seem to be working since cigarette smoking among pregnant women has significantly declined, although young women still smoke. According to Chand, the research study shows that the effects of smoke exposure during pregnancy are long term.
A past study that was done by Prof. Marcus Pembrey and his research team showed that exposure to cigarette smoke during pregnancy affected the growth of future grandchildren. The research that was published in the American Journal of Human Biology indicated that exposure to smoke during pregnancy had an impact on the future grandkids. If the paternal grandmother smoked during pregnancy, her grandkids would have lean (muscle) and less bone mass and the granddaughters would be taller. However, if the maternal mother smoked during pregnancy, the grandsons would gain a lot of weight during adolescence.
Sources: wiley.com, motherandbaby.co.uk, medicalxpress.com.