There are numerous reasons why smoking is considered bad for an individual and there are numerous research studies which list the reasons. Studies are showing how bad second hand smoke is for children. A MNT article, Smoking During Pregnancy May Lower Your Child’s Reading Scores:
Babies born to mothers who smoke more than a pack of cigarettes a day while pregnant have lower reading scores and a harder time with reading tests, compared with children whose mothers do not smoke.
This is the conclusion of a recent study conducted by researchers at Yale School of Medicine and published in The Journal of Pediatrics in November 2012. The reading tests measured how well children read out loud and understood what they were reading.
This isn’t the first study to suggest that smoking in pregnancy may affect a child’s future health and development. A study released in August 2012 said that smoking during pregnancy increases a child’s risk of asthma. In addition, a 2009 study linked smoking during pregnancy to behavioral problems among 3 and 4 year olds boys…. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/253100.php
An Inserm and Pierre and Marie Curie University study adds behavior problems to the list of woes children of smokers suffer.
Science Daily reported in Early exposure to tobacco can cause behavioral problems in children:
The consequences of tobacco exposure are widely documented. It leads to many illnesses, including asthma. However, the potential role of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) is much less well known in terms of its link to behavioural problems in children. In this context, the team led by Isabella Annesi-Maesano, Inserm Research Director at Unit 1136, “Pierre Louis Public Health Institute” (Inserm/UPMC) examined the association between pre- and postnatal ETS exposure and behavioural problems in children….
These observations seem to confirm those carried out in animals, i.e. that the nicotine contained in tobacco smoke may have a neurotoxic effect on the brain. During pregnancy, nicotine in tobacco smoke stimulates acetylcholine receptors, and causes structural changes in the brain. In the first months of life, exposure to tobacco smoke generates a protein imbalance that leads to altered neuronal growth….. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150928103029.htm?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=facebook
Steven Reinberg reported in the Health Day article, Secondhand Smoke in Infancy May Harm Kids’ Teeth. http://consumer.healthday.com/kids-health-information-23/cavities-and-dental-news-118/secondhand-smoke-in-infancy-may-harm-kids-teeth-704482.html
Science Daily reported in Smoking fathers increase asthma-risk in future offspring:
A Norwegian study shows that asthma is three times more common in those who had a father who smoked in adolescence than offspring who didn’t.
It is well known that a mother’s environment plays a key role in child health. However, recent research, including more than 24,000 offspring, suggests that this may also be true for fathers….
Smoking fathers may influence gene control in children
Concerning mother’s smoking, the research found more offspring asthma if the mother smoked around pregnancy, consistent with previous studies. However, no effect of maternal smoking only prior to conception was identified. The difference from father’s smoking suggests effects through male sperm cells.
“Smoking is known to cause genetic and epigenetic damage to spermatozoa, which are transmissible to offspring and have the potential to induce developmental abnormalities,” explains Svanes.
It is previously known that nutritional, hormonal and psychological environment provided by the mother permanently alters organ structure, cellular response and gene expression in her offspring. Father’s lifestyle and age appear, however, to be reflected in molecules that control gene function.
“There is growing evidence from animal studies for so called epigenetic programming, a mechanism whereby the father’s environment before conception could impact on the health of future generations,” Svanes says…. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/09/160928135903.h
Another study linked nicotine exposure to sudden infant death syndrome.
Science Daily reported in: Novel study links fetal exposure to nicotine and sudden infant death syndrome:
Fetal exposure to tobacco smoke in utero is associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and cardiac arrhythmias in newborns. In a novel study in rabbits, investigators provide the first evidence linking fetal exposure to nicotine to long-term alterations of the cardiac sodium current. These changes may impair adaptation of the cardiac sodium current to sympathetic tone and prevent awakening from sleep apnea, leading to arrhythmias that could potentially be involved in SIDS. They report their findings in HeartRhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society and the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, published by Elsevier.
SIDS, or crib death, is the leading cause of death in the first year of life. In utero exposure to tobacco smoke remains the highest risk factor in 85 percent of cases. It therefore seems logical to prescribe nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) to pregnant women who wish to quit smoking. Tobacco smoke contains over 3,000 toxic compounds identified so far, but out of all the toxic compounds found in smoke, only nicotine is associated with cardiac arrhythmias in newborns.
“Clinicians often prescribe NRTs to pregnant women who wish to quit smoking in order to reduce the number of crib deaths,” explained lead investigator Robert Dumaine, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. “However, our data show that nicotine alone is sufficient to alter electrical currents within the heart and generate arrhythmias leading to crib death.”
In the womb, the fetus cannot breathe on its own and its heart reacts to a reduction in oxygen by slowing the beating rate and its metabolism to preserve energy. This fetal adaptation is known as “diver reflex.” On the other hand, when an infant suffocates during sleep, the brain senses the reduction of oxygen in the blood and will trigger secretion of adrenalin (epinephrine) to accelerate heart rhythm. Once cardiac rhythm accelerates, in part due to increased excitability (sodium current) in the heart, the baby wakes up. This “resuscitation reflex” seems to be absent in babies with SIDS. Instead, those infants display a slowing of heart rate when lacking oxygen, as if their postnatal cardiac development had been delayed and still in a fetal state.
“The importance of this study is that, for the first time, we provide direct evidence that in utero exposure to nicotine has postnatal effects on the development of the heart and its response to adrenalin and may provide a basis to explain why some babies do not wake up during sleep apnea,” commented Dr. Dumaine. “Therefore, it might be worthwhile to revisit the clinical practice of prescribing the nicotine patch and other NRTs to pregnant women….” https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/03/190328150959.htm
Citation:
Novel study links fetal exposure to nicotine and sudden infant death syndrome
Date: March 28, 2019
Source: Elsevier
Summary:
In utero exposure to nicotine has postnatal effects on development of the heart and its response to adrenalin and may contribute to explanation of why some babies do not wake up during sleep apnea, according to a new study.
Journal Reference:
Michael Biet, Anh Tuan Ton, Jean-Francois Delabre, Nathalie Morin, Robert Dumaine. In utero exposure to nicotine abolishes the postnatal response of the cardiac sodium current to isoproterenol in newborn rabbit atrium. Heart Rhythm, 2019; 16 (4): 494 DOI: 10.1016/j.hrthm.2019.02.013
Here is the press release from Elsevier:
PUBLIC RELEASE: 28-MAR-2019
Novel study links fetal exposure to nicotine and sudden infant death syndrome
In utero exposure to nicotine has postnatal effects on development of the heart and its response to adrenalin and may contribute to explanation of why some babies do not wake up during sleep apnea, according to important new study published in HeartRhythm
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Philadelphia, March 28, 2019 – Fetal exposure to tobacco smoke in utero is associated with sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and cardiac arrhythmias in newborns. In a novel study in rabbits, investigators provide the first evidence linking fetal exposure to nicotine to long-term alterations of the cardiac sodium current. These changes may impair adaptation of the cardiac sodium current to sympathetic tone and prevent awakening from sleep apnea, leading to arrhythmias that could potentially be involved in SIDS. They report their findings in HeartRhythm, the official journal of the Heart Rhythm Society and the Cardiac Electrophysiology Society, published by Elsevier.
SIDS, or crib death, is the leading cause of death in the first year of life. In utero exposure to tobacco smoke remains the highest risk factor in 85 percent of cases. It therefore seems logical to prescribe nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) to pregnant women who wish to quit smoking. Tobacco smoke contains over 3,000 toxic compounds identified so far, but out of all the toxic compounds found in smoke, only nicotine is associated with cardiac arrhythmias in newborns.
“Clinicians often prescribe NRTs to pregnant women who wish to quit smoking in order to reduce the number of crib deaths,” explained lead investigator Robert Dumaine, PhD, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC, Canada. “However, our data show that nicotine alone is sufficient to alter electrical currents within the heart and generate arrhythmias leading to crib death.”
In the womb, the fetus cannot breathe on its own and its heart reacts to a reduction in oxygen by slowing the beating rate and its metabolism to preserve energy. This fetal adaptation is known as “diver reflex.” On the other hand, when an infant suffocates during sleep, the brain senses the reduction of oxygen in the blood and will trigger secretion of adrenalin (epinephrine) to accelerate heart rhythm. Once cardiac rhythm accelerates, in part due to increased excitability (sodium current) in the heart, the baby wakes up. This “resuscitation reflex” seems to be absent in babies with SIDS. Instead, those infants display a slowing of heart rate when lacking oxygen, as if their postnatal cardiac development had been delayed and still in a fetal state.
“The importance of this study is that, for the first time, we provide direct evidence that in utero exposure to nicotine has postnatal effects on the development of the heart and its response to adrenalin and may provide a basis to explain why some babies do not wake up during sleep apnea,” commented Dr. Dumaine. “Therefore, it might be worthwhile to revisit the clinical practice of prescribing the nicotine patch and other NRTs to pregnant women.”
Investigators measured the effect of nicotine on the response of cardiac sodium current (INa) to adrenergic stimulation in isolated cardiomyocytes in rabbits. They mated New Zealand female rabbits and after 14 days of gestation, implanted them subcutaneously with two osmotic pumps, each containing 2 ml of nicotine solution. The control group was exposed to saline solution instead of nicotine. Serum concentration of cotinine (nicotine metabolite) was measured every two days.
Results showed that isoproterenol, an analog of epinephrine (adrenaline) and a potent beta-adrenergic agonist, increased INa by 50 percent in newborn rabbits in the control group but had no effect in newborn rabbits that were exposed to nicotine in utero. Exposure of rabbit fetuses to nicotine while still in the womb reduced the response of their heart to adrenalin after birth. More specifically, they observed that the cardiac electrical current carried by sodium and responsible for excitability within the heart did not respond to adrenalin. Therefore, nicotine will impair acceleration of heart rate when adrenalin is released at the onset of sleep apnea, which is a potential mechanism leading to SIDS.
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See, Prenatal care fact sheet http://www.womenshealth.gov/publications/our-publications/fact-sheet/prenatal-care.html
Our goal as a society should be a healthy child in a healthy family who attends a healthy school in a healthy neighborhood. ©
Resources:
A History of Tobacco
http://archive.tobacco.org/History/Tobacco_History.html
American Lung Association’s Smoking and Teens Fact Sheet Women and Tobacco Use
African Americans and Tobacco Use
American Indians/Alaska Natives and Tobacco Use
Hispanics and Tobacco Use
Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Tobacco Use
Military and Tobacco Use
Children/Teens and Tobacco Use
Older Adults and Tobacco Use
http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/about-smoking/facts-figures/specific-populations.html
Center for Young Women’s Health A Guide for Teens http://www.youngwomenshealth.org/smokeinfo.html
Kroger Resources Teens and Smoking
http://kroger.staywellsolutionsonline.com/Wellness/Smoking/Teens/
Teens Health’s Smoking
http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/smoking.html
Quit Smoking Support.com
http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/teens.htm
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