Smoking Moms May Risk Daughters' Fertility

Toxins In Cigarette Smoke Affect Daughters' Ovarian Function, Research Suggests

(WebMD)  Moms who smoke before, during, and even after pregnancy may be compromising their daughters' future fertility, new research suggests.

The study involved female mice injected with environmental toxins found in cigarette smoke before they became pregnant and while they were nursing.

Though the mice's litter size was not affected by the smoke toxin exposure, ovarian function in the female offspring was.

Lead researcher Andrea Jurisicova, PhD, says she hopes the findings in mice will spur further research examining the role of cigarette smoke and exposure to similar environmental toxins on fertility.

"We want to raise concerns. We don't want to spook anybody," Juriscova tells WebMD. "But this research does suggest that a woman who smokes may be affecting her future offspring's fertility without knowing it."

Smoking and Fertility
Maternal smoking is linked to a wide range of pregnancy complications, including low birth weight, placental problems, and premature delivery.

Previous studies have also suggested a link between cigarette smoke exposure in the womb and impaired fertility later in life in both women and men, but the reasons for the association have not been known.

In an effort to explain the association, Juriscova and colleagues injected female mice with the environmental toxin polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) prior to pregnancy and after birth while they were nursing to mimic the effects of cigarette smoke exposure.

The researchers note that most women stop smoking once they find out that they are pregnant.

The researchers found that the daughter mice had about two-thirds fewer ovarian follicles Each ovarian follicle contains a single egg, so fewer follicles means fewer eggs.

Further research indicated that the chemical exposure triggered the increase of a protein associated with cell death, mediated through a receptor known as Ahr.

Further experiments involving human ovarian tissue samples showed a similar sequence of events.

The study is published Nov. 21 in the online issue of The Journal of Clinical Investigation.

Sons Face Similar Risks
In a separate study, published earlier this month, University of Aberdeen fertility researcher Paul Fowler, PhD, and colleagues reported similar findings in men.

Specifically, Fowler and colleagues showed that sons born to mothers who smoked during pregnancy had lower levels of a gene called DHH, which promotes testicular growth.

DHH expression in these men was roughly half that seen in men born to mothers who did not smoke during pregnancy.

Small testicles are linked to low sperm counts, so this could explain how maternal smoking affects the future fertility of unborn boys, Fowler tells WebMD.

"We now have a gene that explains what we have seen in population studies," he says.

[drivelphobe]

Mythoughtsr.....

Well said. If smokers only knew how disgusting they are. I had a sales business for 25 years. I wouldn''t hire smokers, and I wouldn''t do business with them. I had a great business because non-smokers don''t want to be around smokers, they are harder working, and they make more money. They also make great customers and clients because you can socialize with them, go to dinner, take trips, go to sporting events and not have to be around the vomit inducing stench of the smoker. A smoker''s breath is the worst. What are they thinking?

[denn034]

Next year such will probably create more fertility. The constant seesawing is why I no longer listen to stories like this.

[greeneyes222]

"May"? "suggests"? What a crock. I don''t smoke, and even I don''t find this bogeyman mentality persuasive.

[Netterz]

We chewed on lead paint covered crips and high chairs,, happily bounced all over the back seats of cars with no seat beats, and laid in the back window. Moms of MY era, were GREAT mothers, kids of the depression, knew the hardships, which allowed us more freedoms as kids, in my world anyways. Kids were SAFE and HAPPY, and could have as many kids as they wanted. This is a bunch of ***. I know MANY women, all smoked, lived well into late 80''s early 90''s, had anywhere from 5-13 kids,who all have LOTS of kids too.

[argusp]

I''m surprised the mice didn''t die outright! From more detailed articles, they INJECTED each mouse with the TOTAL PAH content of 25 packs of cigarettes over 3 weeks. That''s an insane amount, considering that a mouse weighs maybe 1/3000 of a human. Further, the dose was full and permanent, unlike in a smoker who EXHALES most of what he takes in. This study is a joke.

[michellem99-2009]

I ask that as there is more info out today. If their children sre taken from them where yer think they go,foster homes. Other people don''t want to raise other persons'' kids. I know all to well as I was a foster child.

[grammawhamma]

Smokers practice good population control so leave them alone.

(just kidding)

[horse3farm]

Hype, Hype, Hype. I wonder how my sister and I had kids, or even how my Mom(smoker) had us kids, or even how my grandmother(smoker), whose mother smoked, had 14 kids, 47 grandchildren, and 82 great grandchildren. Rather fertile smokers I would say. And no one of the above mentioned number has or did have any cancer. Just good stock? No...hype, hype, hype.

[Netterz]

I seriously have no idea how most of us on ths planet ever survived...... since very possible thing from smoking to drinking water should have long killed us all off, according to ''studies''. Scaring the *** out of America.... one study after another... for the greater good. (commi-corp.american-gov''t) They will have a pill that will fix all this soon, a 15K a dose, no worries.

[keithle1]

Good. Smoke away. Knock yourself out. We have enough babies. If you just have a little bundle of joy, adopt a baby.