Newborns and Nicotine

     A study was done to investigate changes in DNA methylation in infants that were exposed to tobacco smoke while they were in the womb. DNA methylation is a process that controls gene expression. The study was done on 889 infants, a sample of blood was taken from each of the infants to assess the DNA methylation processes. There were 289 mothers that admitted smoking during their pregnancy, this is where fault comes into play because not every mother that smoked during pregnancy may have admitted that she had smoked so the results could be slightly skewed. The results included that 185 of the infants had some type of change in their methylation processes; the types of genes that had been altered indicated processes that were similar to nicotine dependence, smoking cessation, and development of the embryo and the placenta.
     Smoking tobacco during any trimester of pregnancy is highly damaging to the unborn baby. There are thousands of chemicals in cigarettes that are alone detrimental to an adult, the negative effects increase when a baby in utero is exposed to the cigarette smoke because the organs are still forming in the baby. The chemicals in the cigarette smoke can be an obstacle in organ formation of the baby and possibly cause birth defects that are irreversible.

     The main aspect is to make women aware of the damaging effects that smoking can and will have on their unborn babies. Education is key in every situation that involves any type of drug, without the knowledge of the affects then there will definitely be no stopping the women from smoking during pregnancy. The babies depend upon their mothers for nutrients and fluids and they also depend on the mothers for protection because they have absolutely no control over what they are exposed to in the womb. Having more studies such as this one can ultimately open the eyes of a lot of smokers and especially expecting mothers that smoke. Something needs to be done to protect the babies!





Markunas, Christina A., Zongli Xu, Sophia Harlid, Paul A. Wade, Rolv T. Lie, Jack A. Taylor. Allen J. Wilcox. "Identification of DNA Methylation Changes in Newborns Related to Maternal Smoking during Pregnancy." Environmental Health Perspectives. National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 6 June 2014. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/wp-content/uploads/advpub/2014/6/ehp.1307892.pdf>.



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