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Damage Done by Secondhand Smoke

Secondhand Children

At least one baby a week is dying from inhaling its parents' cigarette smoke.

Renowned expert in childhood chest diseases, Dr Philip Pattemore, said his work would be halved if no-one smoked.

The babies of smoking mothers were 1½ times more likely to be admitted to hospital than babies of non-smoking mothers.

Exposure to cigarette smoke increased the likelihood of infections of the ears, nose, throat, and chest.

The same children "keep coming back" said Pattemore.

Thirdhand Smoke

One study concluded that the DNA damage caused by the hydrocarbons (of tobacco smoke) was comparable in newborns and their mothers.

Compared to their mothers, the babies seemed to have been "exposed" to greater levels of second-hand tobacco smoke. (Since none of the mothers themselves smoked, perhaps this prenatal exposure should be referred to as "third-hand" tobacco smoke.)

Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy

"There might be a subset of kids who should be very careful about experimenting with cigarettes," said Dr. Theodore Slotkin.

"We found there was outright damage to the parts of the brain involved in learning, memory, and mood," said Slotkin.

He studied the brains of mice exposed to nicotine in the womb . . .

When the mice were exposed to nicotine again at adolescence, he found they got hooked unusually quickly.

For stories about how quickly children of smokers get addicted, Click here

A Mother's Lament

I quit smoking immediately when I learned that I was pregnant. I've always felt good that I had done the right thing for my baby.

But the latest studies show that children exposed to 10 or more cigarettes during pregnancy have 50% higher risk of cancer later.

And even nonsmoking women in smoking environments pass on cancer-causing chemicals (besides nicotine and carbon monoxide) directly to their fetuses.

I was already 6 weeks pregnant before
I found out, so my baby had already endured 6 weeks of exposure to all those toxins before I quit.

And then how long did it take for all those toxins
to actually leave both of our bodies?

Or did they ever leave? My husband kept on smoking...

If only we had known.

What a tragic irony
if a baby whose mother smokes associates the smell with
security...

About SHS l Illnesses caused by SHS | Secondhand Children
Did you Know? | SHS is a Killer