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Smoking during pregnancy found to cause vascular damage

12/28/11

A recent study scheduled to be published in the January 2012 issue of the journal Pediatrics shows that parents smoking during pregnancy could cause vascular damage in children by the age of 5.

For the study, mothers filled out questionnaires about their smoking habits after their children were born, and both parents recorded their smoking habits when the child reached the age of 5. The kids also took a carotid artery test through an ultrasound to check for vascular disease signs.

"Our study shows that tobacco smoke exposure during gestation has structural and functional effects on the vascular wall of young children," the authors wrote. "Clearly, fetuses are exposed to the many toxic constituents in tobacco smoke consumed by their mothers. It is conceivable that such influences contribute to very early life vascular damage."

The study showed that vascular damage was seen in children whose mothers had smoked during pregnancy and the chances of a child having vascular damage was even higher if both parents smoked during pregnacy.

No correlation was found between vascular damage and mothers smoking after their children were born.

Smoking can also cause lung cancer, which is the leading cancer killer in Americans. People who engage in such risky activities should consider securing some form of life insurance to prepare for any healthcare costs and to protect the financial well-being of their dependents.

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