Daughters of women who smoked cigarettes during pregnancy start menstruating earlier, which may adversely affect their health later, say scientists whose research was published in the journal Human Reproduction.
Referring to previous studies, the scientists emphasize that women who started menstruating before the age of 12 are more at risk, inter alia, for heart disease, breast cancer and even lung disease and asthma.
Researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles found that girls whose mothers smoked at least 10 cigarettes a day throughout their pregnancy, or part of their pregnancy, had their first menstruation on average 3-4 months earlier than the daughters of women who did not smoke at all. As experts note, this is not a big difference, but if a large group of girls started menstruating earlier, it would have a significant impact on the population.
The lead researcher, Dr. Anshu Shrestha, analyzed smoking and alcohol consumption data in a group of 13,8 thousand people. pregnant women in Denmark. The information was dated from 1984 to 1987, a period when smoking during pregnancy was much more common than today.
Over 40 percent of the surveyed women admitted then that while expecting a child, they still smoked cigarettes, and 70 percent. consumed at least one alcoholic drink a week. 17 percent got drunk at least once while pregnant. In 2005, researchers contacted the daughters of these women for information on the date of their first menstruation. More than 3 responded to the scientists’ request. women, about half of whom remembered exactly the day and month.
According to Dr. Shrestha, there was no correlation between the date of the first menstrual period and maternal smoking after childbirth and pre-pregnancy, as well as alcohol consumption by mothers. However, the researcher emphasizes that alcohol consumed during pregnancy may cause a number of other complications, including malformations.
While it is not entirely clear why smoking affects fetal development in this way, nicotine by-products are known to cross the placenta, and exposure to tobacco is related to neonatal hormone levels. This, in turn, may be the cause of earlier periods, sums up Dr. Shrestha. (PAP)