smoking on the body
Tobacco is one of the leading preventable causes of death in the United States. Nicotine, which is an alkaloid derived from the tobacco plant, is a potent chemical that has powerful effects on the human body, especially when administered rapidly or at high doses. Prenatal exposure to nicotine is associated with adverse reproductive outcomes, including altered neural structure and functioning, cognitive deficits, and behavior problems in the offspring (9). At least 20% - 30% of pregnant women are estimated to smoke cigarettes, although smoking is associated with low birth weight, prematurity and infant mortality. In the United States, smoking accounts annually for estimated fetal deaths ranging from 19,000 to 141,000, for 1,900 to 4,800 deaths during or immediately after parturition, and for 1,200 to 2,200 death from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (7). Maternal smoking has been implicated in long term deficits in infant mental development and adverse behavioral problems in children such as attention disorder. Nicotine crosses the human placenta and has direct effects on the developing fetus. Pre-clinical studies suggest that maternal smoking during pregnancy produces changes on the offspring's neural functioning, includi
Rats exposed to nicotine prenatally show an impaired adrenomedullary response, as well as alterations in brain-stem noradrenergic mechanisms that are likely to participate in cardiorespiratory control (7). A similar study by Lauren S. Just as impaired cardiac function during hypoxia in neonatal rats can account for the increase in mortality with prolonged hypoxia, comparable effects in man would provide a mechanism for cardiovascular collapse and consequent brain damage or death during delivery. The average birth weight of infants prenatally exposed to nicotine is 100 to 320g lighter than their nonexposed counterparts (5). The consequences of smoking during pregnancy are very dramatic. Nicotine exposure of fetal rats reproduces the increased mortality when animals are tested postnatally with hypoxia. Several studies have linked maternal smoking during pregnancy with childhood inattention, impulsivity, and motor hyperactivity in offspring. Wakschlag, on maternal smoking during pregnancy and the risk of conduct disorder in boys, revealed that mothers who smoked more than half a pack of cigarettes daily during pregnancy were significantly more likely to have offspring who met DSM-III-R diagnostic criteria for Conduct Disorder during the preadolescent or adolescent years than women who did not smoke or smoked only occasionally during pregnancy. In a laboratory study with Sprague-Dawley mice, it was shown that hyperactive male pups that were exposed to nicotine prenatally had significantly higher nicotinic receptor concentrations in the cortex than did the controlled pups (8). This could be accomplished by informing women that their infants may not only be "smaller" than their nonsmoking counterparts, but their infants may also have transient or permanent changes in their lung and brain ultrastructure. A patient who is informed of these possible long-term effects of nicotine on her child may be more successful with her smoking cessation. The birth weight of a baby is dependent on two factors: the gestational age of the fetus at the time of delivery, and the rate of fetal growth up until that point. Evidence from studies of human neonates suggests that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with increased rates of neurobehavioral difficulties. Children prenatally exposed to nicotine consistently score lower in the two subcategories of expressive language and conceptual comprehension. Therefore, the rate of delivering a low birth weight or premature infant has remained consistently increased over the past four decades despite advances in prenatal and neonatal care.
Common topics in this essay:
SIDS Nicotine,
Conduct Disorder,
United Nicotine,
DNA RNA,
Death Syndrome,
Yousef Tzabi,
Lauren Wakschlag,
TA Slotkin,
smoking pregnancy,
birth weight,
maternal smoking,
maternal smoking pregnancy,
,
low birth weight,
low birth,
exposed nicotine,
nicotine exposure,
prenatal nicotine,
smoking pregnancy associated,
heart rate,
pregnancy associated,
cardiac function,
prenatal nicotine exposure,
Infant Death,
associated increased rates,
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Acceptance Essays
