Smoking during pregnancy increases asthma risk in great-grandchildren, a latest study reveals.
Researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor - UCLA (University of California Los Angeles) Medical Center (LA BioMed) conducted a study on mice to find out the side effects of smoking on great-grandchildren.
The pregnant rats were divided into two groups. The first group was injected with a dose of nicotine every day by researchers starting on the sixth day of pregnancy and continued for 21 days post-birth. The babies were breastfed until they were weaned at three weeks. The second group was given a placebo drug injection and the same routine was followed.
The researchers studied the third generation of the rats, the great-grandchildren of the original set of mice. They tested their lungs and found that rats whose great-grandmothers were given daily doses of nicotine had asthma indications.
The study results concluded that smoking can have long-term side effects. Although the study was done on mice; the results showed that smoking carries genetic risk of disease among smokers.
The study was published in the 'American Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology.'
In the U.S. smoking and tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable diseases and deaths. Nearly 40,000 deaths due to tobacco abuse are reported every year in the country. The government spends $97 billion in lost productivity and $96 billion in health care expenditures every year due smoking and tobacco use.
Another study stated that quitting smoking can help people get a good night's sleep.
