Smoking can cause asthma in third generation
Asthma is a major public health problem. It is the most common chronic disease of childhood.
While there are many factors which contribute to asthma - maternal smoking during pregnancy is a well known, and avoidable, risk.
During pregnancy nicotine can affect a developing foetus' lungs, predisposing the infant to childhood asthma.
Researchers from Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre, California, tested the effect of nicotine exposure during pregnancy on rats, looking not only at their pups but also at second generation pups.
Exposure inside the uterus resulted in both male and female offspring having reduced lung function consistent with asthma.
It also impaired lung function of their own offspring, even though the first generation rats were not themselves exposed to nicotine once they were born, according to an UCLA statement.
Levels of proteins increased by maternal smoking in the lungs of their offspring such as fibronectin, collagen and nicotinic aceylcholine receptors, were also found to be raised in the grandchildren.
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@John Davidson: Smokers are always coming up with weird justifications to keep on smoking. How much nicotine is there in a potato compared with a cigarette?
And unlike vegetables, cigs have zero health benefits, they do have some 400 toxins in them along with the nicotine, many of which are cancer causing.
If you want to smoke and ignore the dangers that's fine. But please don't try to say it is not bad. Because some poor sap may actually be convinced by you no matter how bad your arguments.
Its quite amazing to make this headline especially after we know for a fact Nicotine is in Potatoes,tomatoes,tea etc. Then we as a culture have been smoking for nearly 600 years.
600 years of direct smoking by so many mothers thru the eons clearly places this study in the junk bin of history......as surely all of us would have died out by now if it were true!
This one takes the cake for Tobacco controls Junk science of the decade award as if third-hand and second hand smoke claims werent Insane enuf by themselves the nutters have clearly surpassed even their own insane minds.