Secondhand smoke dangerous during pregnancy
A new report examines how secondhand smoke, the smoke that is inhaled by non-smokers., might be dangerous during pregnancy. Doctors already know the harm to a fetus when an expectant mother smokes, and the harm secondhand smoke causes infants and children. Less is known about how breathing in secondhand smoke during pregnancy can affect a developing baby. Drs.
Jo Leonard-Bee, John Britton, and Andrea Venn of the University of Nottingham (Nottingham, UK) attempted to evaluate these risks and reported their findings in the April 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics. They compiled and reviewed data from 19 separate studies designed to determine the dangers of secondhand smoke exposure in nonsmoking pregnant women. The data was collected from trials in North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.
The team found no evidence that secondhand smoke exposure increased a pregnant woman’s chances of spontaneous abortion (a miscarriage before 20 weeks of pregnancy). In addition, secondhand smoke exposure did not seem to increase the risk of the fetus dying between 20 weeks of pregnancy and 28 days after birth.
However, secondhand smoke exposure did appear to boost the likelihood of other types of danger to an unborn child. The group found that pregnant women exposed to secondhand smoke were 23% more likely to have a stillbirth. They were also 13% more likely to give birth to children with malformations such as clubfoot, heart defects, neural tube defects, orafacial clefts and spina bifida.
Because doctors are unsure how secondhand smoke effects the developing fetus and when secondhand smoke is most dangerous, Dr. Leonard-Bee and colleagues warned that women avoid secondhand smoke exposure not only if they are pregnant but if they are trying to get pregnant.
Not only can breathing secondhand smoke endanger a developing fetus, but secondhand smoke causes non-smokers to suffer from the same diseases as smokers including but not limited to bronchitis, pneumonia, heart disease, and lung cancer. Avoiding secondhand smoke can be challenging. Only 15% of tobacco smoke is actually inhaled by the smoker. The remaining 85% is left to circulate in the air for everyone else to breathe.
While 46 million Americans smoke, 88 million nonsmoking Americans are exposed to the secondhand smoke created by smokers. Research has proven that even if smokers smoke in areas separated from nonsmokers (for example in a house, a bar or an office building), there is no way to 100% prevent nonsmokers from breathing secondhand smoke.
Because second hand smoke is considered dangerous, 25 US states have created laws completely banning smoking in work sites, restaurants and bars. Another 5 states have laws banning smoking in two out of three of those locations.
If you are interested in participating in clinical trials that study the dangers of secondhand smoke, test new products to help smokers quit, or evaluate study diseases caused by smoking and secondhand smoke, please visit www.paidclinicaltrials.org.
Venita Gresham Watson, Ph.D.
Tags: 2nd hand smoke during pregnancy, second hand smoke and pregnancy, second hand smoke during pregnancy, secondhand smoke and pregnancy, secondhand smoke during pregnancy, secondhand smoke pregnancy
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