Smoking in pregnancy is a major determinant of low birthweight and a range of adverse infant health outcomes. There is a well-established social gradient in smoking in pregnancy in the US and northern Europe. Social gradients in health-related behaviours may result from longitudinal accumulation and cross-sectional clustering of social risk ...

OBJECTIVE: During pregnancy, the uptake of smoking cessation courses is very low. We assessed perceived barriers to and benefits of attending a cessation course during pregnancy. METHODS: A decisional-balance questionnaire was devised, including 10 statements reflecting benefits of attending a cessation course and 10 statements of barriers to attendance. The ...

BACKGROUND: Maternal smoking in pregnancy lowers birthweight. It is unclear, however, whether smoking during pregnancy lowers offspring IQ, and, if it does, whether it is through the smoking effect on fetal growth. METHOD: Representative samples of low birthweight (<2500 g) and normal birthweight children born in 1983-85 from inner-city and ...

Embryonic movements (EM) are considered to be the first sign of life and cigarette smoking during pregnancy has been linked to affect EM. Exposure to sidestream smoke, produced from the emissions of a smoldering cigarette, may result in poor pregnancy outcome and increased risk of serious perinatal morbidity and mortality. ...

Clinical guidelines recommend that U.K. health professionals prescribe NRT in pregnancy. The present study was conducted to determine (a) general practitioners' confidence in their ability to deliver a range of smoking cessation interventions, including NRT, in pregnancy, (b) the frequency with which general practitioners recall prescribing NRT in pregnancy, and ...

BACKGROUND: There is substantial evidence that maternal smoking during pregnancy is associated with both antisocial behaviour and symptoms of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring. However, it is not clear whether maternal smoking during pregnancy is independently associated with antisocial behaviour or whether the association arises because antisocial behaviour and ...

The purpose of this research was to explore couple interactions related to tobacco use prior to pregnancy, as part of a larger grounded theory project focused on couple interactions related to tobacco use. Interviews with 28 women who quit or reduced smoking for pregnancy and their partners were conducted. Analysis ...

BACKGROUND: We investigated the effect of pregnancy on the long-term fluctuation of retinal sensitivity in healthy women. METHODS: Candidates for the study were healthy women who were likely to become pregnant. A complete ocular examination of both eyes was performed in 41 women, and 1 eye each was chosen at ...

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy affects the unborn fetus. This study aimed to investigate: (1) the smoking status of pregnant women before, during and after pregnancy in the Yamato and Ayase municipalities, Kanagawa, Japan; (2) the characteristics that differentiate successful spontaneous smoking quitters from continuous smokers during pregnancy; and (3) the ...

AIM: The aim of this study was to assess whether bed rest during pregnancy is a risk factor for infantile colics. METHODS: In a previous paper a questionnaire was administered to 86 women (43 of whom had stayed in bed during pregnancy for a mean of 3.4+/-1.2 months, and 43 ...

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are toxic pollutants released by the World Trade Center (WTC) fires and various urban combustion sources. Benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) is a representative member of the class of PAHs. PAH-DNA adducts, or BaP-DNA adducts as their proxy, provide a measure of chemical-specific genetic damage that has been associated ...

OBJECTIVES: Smoking, pregnancy, and preeclampsia are all associated with changes in markers of the metabolic syndrome. Several markers are increased in all three conditions. However, smoking is negatively associated with preeclampsia, and therefore some markers would be expected to behave differently in smokers during pregnancy. We compared several metabolic markers ...

BACKGROUND: To study causal associations between factors occurring during pregnancy, birth, and infancy and global quality of life (QOL) in adulthood 31-33 years later. MATERIAL/METHODS: Prospective study from the Copenhagen Perinatal Birth Cohort 1959-61. Two sets of questionnaires, one filled out by physicians during pregnancy, birth, and infancy and a ...

Reports in the literature suggest that diagnostic differences in craniofacial morphology between blacks and whites arise very early in development. These reports, however, have not been consistent regarding which traits are diagnostic and have failed to provide forensic anthropologists with a reliable method of assessment. In an effort to clarify ...

OBJECTIVE: This study investigated the association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and ratings of offspring's temperament, behavior, and academic performance at various developmental periods in childhood. METHODS: Multivariate analyses of a birth cohort examined the outcomes for children on measures of temperament, behavior, and academic performance in infancy (6 months), ...

Although the internet may play a role in providing proper teratogen-risk counselling for pregnant women, the experience with this type of service has not been reported. We aimed to compare the pregnancy outcome of women counselled by the internet to women that received typically in-clinic teratogen risk counselling in the ...

Previous findings from studies of demanding tasks in humans and slope walking in quadrupeds suggest that human slope walking may require specialized neural control strategies. The goal of this investigation was to gain insight into these strategies by quantifying lower limb kinematics and kinetics during up- and downslope walking. Nine ...

Cigarette consumption during pregnancy produces deleterious effects in both, mother and fetus, some of them due to the presence of toxic elements in cigarette smoke, such as cadmium. Placenta constitutes a dual-purpose specimen for evaluating the pollutant burden exerted on the mother as well as on the fetus. The main ...

Cigarette smoking during pregnancy has been causally associated with an increased risk of both intrauterine growth retardation and preterm delivery but most strongly with low birth weight. No such study to date had ever dealt with the Cypriot population. In interviews with their gynaecologists 65,530 pregnant women were asked between ...

BACKGROUND: Cigarette smoking (CS) is a widely recognized health hazard, yet it remains prevalent in society and the effects of environmental tobacco smoke exposure on fertility are unknown. Our objective was to measure the effects of CS on the fertility of mainstream (MS) or sidestream (SS) smoke-exposed women compared to ...

OBJECTIVE: To examine the effects of maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy on the developing infant's autonomic regulation before the possible effects of parturition and neonatal withdrawal could alter outcome measures. METHODS: Heart rate variability (HRV) was assessed for 10 min during late gestation for 21 cigarette-exposed (CE) and 22 nonexposed ...

Prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke has been associated with an increased risk of pediatric malignancies, yet the transplacental induction of genetic alterations by tobacco smoke carcinogens and their implication to childhood diseases remain poorly understood. We characterized mutations in the HPRT gene in umbilical cord blood T-lymphocytes of self-reported 103 ...

The purpose of this study was to investigate temporospatial and ground reaction force variables in the stance phase of walking during late pregnancy. An eight-camera motion-analysis system was used to record 13 pregnant women at 38 weeks' gestation and again 8 weeks after birth. In late pregnancy, there was a ...

AIM: Recently, attention has focused on possible early life origins for asthma. We sought to identify whether factors present during pregnancy were associated with development of childhood wheezing phenotypes. METHODS: A whole population birth cohort (n=1456) on the Isle of Wight, UK, was followed through to age 10 y. Where ...

BACKGROUND: Few studies have reported interactions between maternal smoking and other maternal characteristics and exposures. We examined maternal smoking in a cohort study for which data from 3 generations were available to examine maternal characteristics and exposures from a life-course perspective. METHODS: We had data from 3 generations: women enrolled ...

A recent study by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Perinatal Mortality Research Unit at Tygerberg Hospital found that 39% of pregnant women smoked cigarettes.1 Smoking in pregnancy is clearly recognised in the literature as an important, dose-related, preventable risk factor for poor perinatal outcome.2 Aprevious MRC finding that 47% of ...

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to assess intergenerational mother-daughter patterns of reproduction. METHODS: In 1966, 12 055 pregnant women in Northern Finland, representing 96% of all births in the region, responded to a questionnaire in mid-gestation. In 1997-98, the 31-year-old daughters born from those pregnancies were sent a ...

OBJECTIVE: Recent epidemiological studies have shown that there is an increased risk of obesity and hypertension in children born to women who smoked during pregnancy. The aim of this study was to examine the effect of fetal and neonatal exposure to nicotine, the major addictive component of cigarette smoke, on ...

Studies of placental pathologies associated with maternal cigarette smoking have led to many interesting observations. For example, maternal smoking impairs human placental development by changing the balance between cytotrophoblast (CTB) proliferation and differentiation. It is likely that chronic exposure to tobacco constituents in early pregnancy can affect placental development directly ...

A PCM rolling floor (RF) was developed to reduce the risk of musculoskeletal complaints among truck drivers. The RF can be used to move packed goods automatically in and out of the cargo space. The efficacy of this intervention on physical work demands, energetic and perceived workload and productivity was ...

BACKGROUND: Maternal smoking is linked with several neonatal metabolic disorders. Adiponectin is an adipose-specific hormone with anti-inflammatory and antiatherogenic properties. AIM: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of maternal smoking on cord blood adiponectin concentrations. METHODS: We evaluate the effect of maternal smoking on cord blood ...

BACKGROUND: There are some indications that maternal lifestyle during pregnancy (smoking and stress) contributes to symptoms of ADHD in children. We prospectively studied whether prenatal exposure to maternal smoking and/or stress is associated with ADHD symptoms and diagnostic criteria (according to DSM-IV) in 7-year-olds. METHODS: Nulliparous Scandinavian women were consecutively ...

BACKGROUND: The impact of pregnancy on Crohn's disease activity has been poorly investigated. AIM: To determine the effect of pregnancy on Crohn's disease activity from the retrospective analysis of a cohort of women who had a regular clinical follow-up. METHODS: Seventy pregnancies occurring in 61 women were studied. The Harvey-Bradshaw ...

Smoking during pregnancy leads to decreased pulmonary function and increased respiratory illness in offspring. Our laboratory has previously demonstrated that many effects of smoking during pregnancy are mediated by nicotine. We now report that vitamin C supplementation can prevent some of the effects of maternal nicotine exposure on pulmonary function ...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: A reversible decrease in brain size has been demonstrated during normal pregnancy that is maximal at term and returns to normal after many months. The purpose of this longitudinal study was to use phosphorus-31 MR spectroscopy to determine if metabolic changes explain this physiologic event. METHODS: Pregnant ...

BACKGROUND: Smoking during pregnancy can have many serious consequences. As the usual providers of pregnancy care in the Netherlands, midwives could serve as effective counsellors to pregnant women about cigarette smoking. The aim of the present study was to identify relevant factors that hamper or promote the provision of effective ...

It has been suggested that the obstruction of the South Equatorial Current by the Mascarene Plateau might cause upwelling, nutrient enrichment and enhanced chlorophyll and secondary production levels downstream. A study conducted in April and May 2001 showed variability in biomass and community structure which appeared to support this hypothesis ...

Because smoking during pregnancy is implicated in influencing appetite and impulse control in offspring, the aim of this study was to establish if it is associated with bulimia nervosa in offspring. Bulimia was identified at age 30 years among 4046 females, born 5-11 April, 1970. After adjustment for potential confounding ...

Information about smoking impact on pregnancy as well as clear advice to stop and a treatment offer should be included into the health care of pregnant women. We contacted them within the first 3 days after delivery. In the sample of 265 women 23.8% (63/265) smoked during their pregnancy (51.9% ...

Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is the second most common parkinsonian syndrome, characterized by a 'diverse' clinical phenotype. Although several different diagnostic guidelines have been proposed, the early and accurate diagnosis of PSP remains problematic and neuropathology is still considered the 'gold standard'. In order to contribute to the better clinical ...

INTRODUCTION: We investigated the role of maternal alcohol and coffee drinking and parental smoking on the risk of childhood acute leukemia in a multicenter case-control study. METHODS: The study included 280 incident cases and 288 hospitalized controls, frequency matched with the cases by age, gender and center. Data collection was ...

AIM: To evaluate the effect of pregnancy on intraobserver and intertechnique agreement for intraocular pressure (IOP) measurements. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Right eyes of 88 healthy women who were likely to become pregnant and of 94 healthy age-matched females were included in the study. Complete ocular examinations were performed on each ...

OBJECTIVES: To assess the relation between cigarette smoking during pregnancy and neonatal respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in very preterm birth, and to analyse the differential effect of antenatal steroids on RDS among smokers and non-smokers. DESIGN: A population based cohort study (the French Epipage study). SETTING: Regionally defined births in ...

BACKGROUND: Smoking during pregnancy is associated with reduced birthweight; this relation can be reversed by smoking cessation. Some but not all previous studies have shown that smoking reduction (measured as cigarettes/day or urinary cotinine) may also improve birthweight. The relationship between maternal and spouses' expired air carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations ...

There are several implications in the buffer capacity and in the protective role of saliva in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and other digestive disorders. The lack of knowledge about the production and quality of saliva and the fact that saliva plays an important role in digestive homeostasis motivated the authors ...

An association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and cognitive and behavioural development has been observed in several studies, but potential effects of maternal smoking on offspring adult intelligence have not been investigated. The objective of the present study was to investigate a potential association between maternal smoking during pregnancy and ...

DATA SOURCES: Medline and Embase were searched to 2002 using the search terms "cleft lip", "cleft palate", "smoking", "tobacco", "cigarette", "mother" and "maternal". Reference lists from retrieved articles and a monograph on neural tube defects were also examined for more studies. STUDY SELECTION: Case-control and cohort studies that reported data ...

BACKGROUND: Numerous studies have shown that smoking negatively affects periodontal health. Hormonal changes, which occur during pregnancy have also been reported to have adverse effects on the periodontal tissues or indirectly through alterations in the subgingival bacterial flora. At present, no knowledge exists concerning possible effects of smoking on the ...

Common genetic variation at genes that are imprinted and exclusively maternally expressed could explain the apparent maternal-specific inheritance of low birthweight reported in large family pedigrees. We identified ten single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in H19, and we genotyped three of these SNPs in families from the contemporary ALSPAC UK birth ...

BACKGROUND: This study explores the socio-demographic characteristics of pregnant women who continue to smoke during the pregnancy, and identifies the characteristics of the smokers who were likely to quit smoking during the pregnancy period. METHODS: This was secondary analysis of the New South Wales (NSW) Midwives Data Collection (MDC) 1999-2003, ...