Children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy are more likely to develope mental health problems and use psychiatric medications later in life.
Finish researchers 175,000 children and their drug use history for 20yrs.They also asked their moms if they smoked during pregnancy.Results showed that 1 in 11 out of the studied kids was prescribed a psychiatric medication at some point during that period,including anti-anxiety drugs,anti-psychoticsanti-deoressants,stimulants and drugs for addiction,Reuters reported.
According to the analysis,11% of the kids whose mothers smoked fewer than 10 cigarrets per day had a report of psychological drug use compared to the 8% who had non-smoker mothers.The association was strongest for stimulant drugs that target attention problems and hyperactivity and drugs for addiction,the scientist wrote in the American Journal of Epidemology.
"The exposure was significantly associated with the risk of all medication use and for both single and multiple drug useeven after adjustment(e.g. Mom's severe psychiatric illness",wrote senior researcher Mikael Ekblad."These findings showed that exposure to smoking during pregnancy is limked to both mild and severe psychiatric morbidity",he added.
Scientists suggest that toxic chemicals in tobacco can affect the baby's brain development in the womb,leading to mental problems after birth.The other possibility is that smoking might harm the baby's brain by decreasing oxygen levels in the blood stream of the mother and fetus.
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