Smoking During Pregnancy Cause Blood Vessel Damage Children

Health for human | feel strange when pregnant some women still smoke during pregnancy though. Most people really find it difficult to quit smoking. A new study suggests smoking during pregnancy can cause the child has a blood vessel damage.

The study was conducted by Dutch researchers, which has involved more than 250 babies. When the baby is 4 weeks old, dimensions and lung function measured. At the same time, their parents completed questionnaires on factors such as smoking during pregnancy.

When the babies are 5 weeks old, the researchers used ultrasound to measure carotid artery thickness and flexibility. Carotid arteries are large blood vessels in the neck that supply blood to the brain.

Carotid artery wall in children aged 5 years whose mothers smoked during pregnancy have a thickness of about 19 microns and 15 percent more rigid compared with mothers who did not smoke.

If both parents smoked while the baby is in utero, carotid artery children almost have a thickness of 28 microns and 21 percent more rigid than the infants whose parents did not smoke during pregnancy. Such changes may indicate damage to the blood vessels that can affect blood vessel function.