Research

Smoking during pregnancy boosts baby’s blood pressure
New research suggests that women who smoke during pregnancy may be putting their babies at risk for high blood pressure in the first several months of life. Researchers surveyed 456 women who had recently given birth about their smoking habits during pregnancy, as well as examined their babies to assess basic measures of growth and health. The research team reports that babies born to smoking mothers had a systolic blood pressure that was on average 5.4 points higher than babies born to non-smoking mothers. Furthermore, babies born to smoking mothers had significantly lower birth weights, were shorter, and had smaller chest circumferences.  To read more about the study, which will be published in the September issue of Hypertension, click here.

Another reason not to smoke while pregnant: Birth defects
A recent study has uncovered that smoking during pregnancy increases the odds that a baby will be born with finger or toe deformities. Researchers analyzed approximately seven million birth records from 2001 to 2002 and identified that 5,200 infants born to smoking mothers also had limb deformities. Not surprisingly, they found that the more a woman smoked, the greater the likelihood that her infant would be born with a deformity. Women who smoked more than one pack a day had a 78% increased risk of having a baby with deformed fingers or toes, women who smoked eleven to twenty cigarettes a day increased their risk by 38%, and women who smoked ten or fewer cigarettes had a 29% increased risk. The researchers posit that smoking interferes with the delivery of oxygen to developing cells, which halts cell replication and ultimately results in limb deformities. Click here to read more about the study, which was published in a recent issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Smoking tied to serious pregnancy condition
A recent study has demonstrated an association between maternal smoking and an increased risk of placental abruption, a serious condition in which the placenta separates from the uterine wall before birth. Researchers were interested in whether this association held for subsequent pregnancies, or whether it was restricted to the current pregnancy. By studying both smoking and non-smoking women, they found that the association was indeed restricted to the current pregnancy, but that having one placental abruption significantly increased the risk of having another. Non-smoking women with a history of placental abruption were 5.3 times as likely to experience another in a subsequent pregnancy, and smoking women were 10.9 times as likely, in comparison to women with no history of abruption. To read more about the study, which was recently published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, click here.

Metals in tobacco smoke may increase risk of breast cancer
Evidence from a recent study suggests that metals found in cigarette smoke, called metalloestrogens, mimic the effect of estrogens by stimulating estrogen receptors, which may increase the risk of breast cancer. Researchers treated human breast cancer cells with tobacco smoke condensate (TSC), which activated the estrogen receptor and triggered breast cancer cell growth. While researchers caution that more studies need to be conducted to help elucidate this relationship, they can say with certainty that smoking is a significant source of exposure to metalloestrogens. To read more about the study, which will be published in the October edition of Endocrinology, click here.

Smoking ups risk for age-linked vision loss
Recent research provides evidence that current and former smokers are much more likely to develop age-related macular degeneration (AMD) than lifelong non-smokers. Researchers at the University of Sydney tracked 2,454 participants for ten years, and were interested in identifying the presence of AMD, a disease that affects the retina and can lead to blindness, as well as associated lifestyle risk factors. Compared to non-smokers, current smokers were four times as likely to develop AMD while former smokers were three times as likely to have an advanced form of AMD called geographic atrophy. Furthermore, the combination of current smoking, low levels of good cholesterol, a high ratio of total cholesterol to good cholesterol, and low fish consumption was related to the highest risk of AMD in comparison to any single risk factor. Click here to read more about the study, which is published in Archives of Ophthalmology.

Prevent smoking to reduce risk of erectile dysfunction
A recent study has uncovered an association between cigarette smoking and the presence of erectile dysfunction in adult men. Researchers at Tulane University surveyed 7,684 men in China between the ages of 35 and 74 and asked them about their smoking behavior and symptoms of erectile dysfunction. The research team found that the likelihood of suffering from erectile dysfunction increased as the number of cigarettes smoked increased, and that this association was particularly strong for diabetics. Approximately 22.7% of erectile dysfunction cases in Chinese men may be explained by cigarette smoking. To read more about the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, click here.

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