Traces that the expectant mother smoked remain in the baby’s blood for five years after his birth.
There is such a term – prenatal smoking. That is, the phenomenon when the expectant mother allows herself a drag or two, despite her position.
– Well, what happens there, one cigarette. Look better than we breathe, – the smoking baby girls brush aside.
Of course, there is some truth in their words. But why add direct influence to the influence of the environment? In addition, not so long ago, scientists found out: traces that a woman smoked during pregnancy remain in the child’s blood for another five years! But this is not the worst thing. After all, they are not only preserved, but also affect the health of the baby.
How exactly? This is the question posed by scientists at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. They analyzed the blood of 531 preschoolers from six different regions of the United States. And they found one oddity: some of the children had general abnormalities in their genomes. Scientists interviewed mothers of children and found out: in 81 percent of cases, women smoked during pregnancy.
According to scientists, the presence of these markers in the child’s blood indicates that he was regularly exposed to hypoxia while in the womb, that is, he simply did not have enough air. In addition, the researchers believe that a distorted genome could be a direct cause of chronic illness in a child in the future. Illnesses are quite unpleasant: from obesity and heart failure to autism.
“There is no doubt that the factors that affect a child during pregnancy affect his health for decades of his life,” says the head of the study, Dr. Margaret Falin.
Above – the fruit of a smoking mother. Bottom – non-smoker
By the way, at about the same time, scientists conducted another series of experiments. Using a 4D scanner, they compared how babies behave in the womb of smoking and non-smoking mothers. It turned out that babies whose mothers smoked moved differently. They often covered their faces with their palms, frowned and grimaced. It seemed they were not very comfortable. Children of non-smoking mothers were calmer and more relaxed.