Genetics and Health

Smoking Damages Babies’ DNA

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on July 31st, 2005

Yesterday, I posted about how genes influence our propensity to nicotine addiction as well as our ability (or inability) to quit smoking. Smoking causes a whole slew of illnesses in smokers and the people around them. And not surprisingly, the babies of pregnant women who smoke are more likely to experience growth retardation and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). In a recent study, researchers found that smoking also directly damages a fetus’s DNA. (Smoking Changes Kids’ Genes, DrGreene.com)

Researchers compared 25 pregnant smokers, who had smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day for more than 10 years, to 25 pregnant non-smokers. In an analysis of fetal cells obtained from amniocentesis, the babies of smokers were found to be significantly more likely to have structural chromosomal abnormalities (12% smokers vs. 3.5% non-smokers). The chromosomal region most affected by tobacco was 11q23, which is associated with leukemia. (JAMA, March 9, 2005)

In the U.S., approximately 13% of pregnant women smoke during pregnancy. The U.S. Public Health Service estimates that if all pregnant women quit smoking, the number of infant deaths would drop by 10%. Smoking during pregnancy is associated with:

• Increased risk of ectopic pregnancy.
• Doubled risk of developing placental complications.
• Increased risk of stillbirth, miscarriage, and severe vaginal bleeding.
• Slowed fetal growth.
• Doubled risk of low birth weight baby.
• Increased risk of preterm delivery.
• Increased likelihood of birth defects, e.g., cleft lip and/or cleft palate.
• Doubled risk of SIDS.
• Increased risk of children having asthma, pneumonia, and other respiratory illnesses, ear infections, tonsillitis, learning disabilities, and behavioral problems.
• More difficulty producing breastmilk.

(Dangers of Smoking During Pregnancy, Discovery Health)

Quitting smoking at any time yields tremendous health benefits. If you smoke, I encourage you to quit RIGHT NOW.

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POSTED IN: General Genetics and Health