Posted on 04/09/2005 8:20:36 PM PDT by paulat
Grandchildren of smokers at risk
NEW research suggests women who smoke while pregnant are putting their grandchildren as well as their children at risk, writes Jonathan Leake. The study suggests that some of the chemicals in smoke can permanently alter the DNA of those exposed to it in ways that can be inherited by smokers’ children, grandchildren and possibly subsequent generations too.
The researchers analysed asthma rates in both the children and grandchildren of women who smoked during pregnancy.
They found the grandchildren of such women had 2.1 times the normal risk of developing asthma. The children of women who smoked in pregnancy were 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma.
Dr Frank Gilliland of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California said: “These findings indicate smoking could have a long-term impact on a family’s health that has never before been realised.”
In Britain about a quarter of all women smoke, with the proportion rising among younger women.
Gilliland and his colleagues studied 338 children who developed asthma before their fifth birthdays, comparing them with 570 youngsters without the condition.
They found children whose mothers and grandmothers both smoked had the highest risk, with a likelihood of developing asthma 2.6 times higher than normal. The research will be published in Chest, a medical journal.
We have also found that the grandchildren of smokers are 12% more likely to live in a mobile home.
Therefore, smoking causes mobile homes.
Well, considering how many generations back tobacco use goes, I'd say we're all doomed.
Yeah, right. Bad science again. I just don't buy this.
It is patently obvious that female smokers should be put in prison for life, unless they do so while pregnant. These women need to be executed.
So, by extension, smoking causes tornadoes.
Oh my God. Even people who have never seen a cigarette are "at risk". We are all gonna die.
Good Grief..............
Talk about ridiculous. More kids have asthma now with smoking rates at less than 1/4 of the population - relatively few had asthma back when more than 50% of the population smoked..........and back then women not only smoked while pregnant - they also drank alcohol and caffeine.
The scientists will next find that thinking of thoughcrime will cause your grandchildren to be executed by big brother.
big brother loves you.
(/s)
Egads... I think this article is designed to heap guilt upon grandmothers everywhere who were dumb enough to smoke at one time in their lives (me included). I have probably sentenced my two grandchildren to a life as twinkie addicts also. I am happy to say, cigerettes and twinkies are dim memories to me now.
...notice...I posted this with no comment. Thought it would speak for itself.
Doing the math... every person needs to form a couple, and every couple needs to have 2 offspring. Less than that, the human race shrinks, more and it grows.
Of course survival of a family lineage is similarly affected by not having children, or by having more than 2 kids.
It's just math. I'd believe that smoking affects your future family legacy. So does choosing to stay single and not have any kids. Is that a crime? (I think it is...)
Huh? What on Earth are you talking about? How is it relevant to this story?
Oh my God. I was just about to turn in and I spotted this piece of "news".
I have 5 healthy kids and 6 healthy grandchildren.
I smoke and they all still love me.
It never ends,does it?
No it doesn't. And it will not stop until the so-called science writers of the media get off their collective butts (pun intended) and start actually dissecting this "science" instead of just printing press releases verbatim.
If I understood the story, the message is- don't smoke, or your grandkids won't do so well. I'm trying to analyse "So what?" Do we really care if our family tree dies out in 2 generations?
Not that you'd want to have sick grandkids. I'm just thinking in terms of birth numbers, and whether we value our family name surviving.
Asthma is INHERITED. My non smoking Grandmother had it. 4 of her kids had it. I have it. Several of my cousins have it.
WAIT A MINUTE.
I'm a smoker. I have no kids.
But they tell me that smoking while pregnant, will hurt my childs health. (OK, I can buy that).
Now, me smoking is going to hurt my grandchildren? Um..show me the science, toots.
I mean, that is just hyresterical bull shit.
And not a shard of evidence.
Small birth numbers???????
A majority of the parents of the baby boomers smoked--didn't keep their birth rates down.
Birth rates are down NOW and most of the parents don't smoke.
What's your point?
After 5000 years of tobacco use it is suddenly obvious that some people smoke tobacco. They and their offspring and even their grandchildren are doomed and will die a slow agonizing death. We should all get under our beds and stay there until the universe has imploded. Once that happens we should all come out from under our beds and be thankful that we are still alive given the fact that the universe doesn't exist anymore. Whew, and I thought giving up cigarettes was hard.
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