Prenatal Smoking Raises Asthma Risks

Filed in archive Asthma on May 4, 2006

Pregnant women are often advised to quit smoking because of its adverse effects on fetal development. In fact, even secondary smoke are to be avoided. Here's another reason why you should refrain from smoking if you're pregnant, especially if you're carrying a baby girl: it can increase your child's likelihood of developing asthma later on.

At age 14, the girls were nearly twice as likely to have asthma symptoms if their mothers smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day during pregnancy. The risk was slightly greater if mothers also smoked heavily during the girls' early infancy. However, the researchers found, in utero exposure to cigarette smoking had a stronger effect than exposure after birth.

These were preliminary findings, and clearly, there is a need for further studies to interpret these observations. They do have a theory why maternal smoking did not have an impact on boys, however. Read the full article from Reuters (via YahooNews): Prenatal smoking boosts teen girls' asthma risk.