However, if the pregnant mothers give up smoking, nearly one-fifth cases of attention-deficit-hyperactivity-disorder (ADHD) could be thwarted in the United States.
The number could further drop if the kids could be prevented from an exposure to lead in contaminated paint, soil, and old water pipes.
Robert Kahn, a physician and researcher at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the study’s senior author said, "Although we tend to focus on ADHD treatment rather than prevention, our study suggests that reducing exposures to environmental toxicants might be an important way to lower rates of ADHD."
4000 children from U.S. national database studied
To find out the health risks caused by prenatal tobacco exposure and childhood lead exposure, researchers analyzed data of 4000 children aged 8 to 15 gathered in the 2001-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
To measure the prenatal tobacco exposure, the team examined the maternal reports of cigarette use during pregnancy while the childhood lead exposure was assessed by blood levels.
Tobacco, lead exposure linked to ADHD
Based on the data, researchers noted that children exposed to prenatal tobacco smoke were 2.4 times more likely to suffer the attention deficit syndrome. On the other hand, those with higher blood lead levels had a 2.3 times likelihood of developing the attention deficit syndrome.
The risk was eightfold higher in children exposed to both the toxicants compared to their counterparts who weren’t exposed to either.
"Tobacco and lead exposure each have their own important adverse effect ... But if children are exposed to both lead and prenatal tobacco, the combined effect is synergistic," lead author, Tanya Froehlich, a physician in the Division of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics at Cincinnati Children’s said.
Overall, 8.7 percent children were diagnosed with ADHD.
ADHD is a neurobehavioral developmental disorder linked to poor attention span. The symptoms include impulsiveness, restlessness and hyperactivity.
Findings of the study are published in the December issue of Pediatrics.
Past link
Previous studies have also linked prenatal tobacco smoke to a number of birth problems like low birth weight, birth defects, or Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.
Researchers say that nicotine, the harmful chemical found in tobacco, is a behavioral toxin and causes behavioral problems.
It has been linked to interference with the chemical messengers in the brain, thus, obstructing the brain development of the babies while they are still in the mother’s womb, they say.
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