A new study indicates that smoking while pregnant changes the fetus's DNA with many other complications for the unborn child. These complications include, low birth weight, risks of asthma, and cleft lips or palates. Despite of health precautions, in the United States, about 12 percent of pregnant women smoke while they are pregnant.
The American Journal of Human Genetics examine the effects on fetal's DNA and looked at 7,000 newborns and their mothers around the globe. The researchers collected blood sample from the newborn and gathered information about the mother's smoking habits. Researchers observed epigenetic changes, which alters the DNA sequence by either switching "on or "off" in a specifc gene. One specific gene they examine was methylation, it is a small molecule part of the DNA that prevents a specific DNA sequence from turning on. Researchers discovered, newborn DNA was different from the DNA of newborns who were born to non-smokers. Dr. Stephanie London, an epidemiologist states that even if the fetus is developing, many of the chemicals while smoking can pass through the placenta. However, some health complications remains unclear for maternal smoking and further studies are needed to be confirmed.
I personally think this research is not a surprise for me because smoking or consuming any sort of drug will have health complications to the developing child. It is essential for individuals to take precautions of their habits during pregnancy.
Prenatal smoking is a major issue that should be taken seriously and help those women who are suffering from it. This research ensures that substance use or smoking can be life-threatening to the fetus.
Hey Bindi!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this article I found it very interesting. Obviously it wasn't a surprise to me either, as most of us know how many health complications are associated with tobacco and nicotine products. It was cool to see the numbers and specific complications that were found in the study to be related to pregnant smokers. I am especially interested in learning more about the epigenetic changes, or alters in DNA regulation/gene expression associated with some of these chemicals.
-Cody
The statistic that 12% of pregnant women smoke blows my mind! (About 4% of women are pregnant at any given time, so if approximately 3.5 billion of the 7 billion people in the world are women, that means 140,000,000 women are pregnant at any given time. 12% of that is 16,800,000, which is entirely too many women smoking...)
ReplyDeleteHere is actual, tested, scientifically valid proof that smoking can cause extreme complications for their child, yet many mothers still continue to smoke. This doesn't even include the percentage of women that drink or abuse other drugs during pregnancy. I hope more published studies like this one cause all women, eventually, to realize how harmful smoking is to a developing fetus and to stop.