Study: Smoking during pregnancy may affect daughter's fertility

Study: Smoking during pregnancy may affect daughter's fertility

In a recent study, it has been found that girls born to the mothers who smoke during pregnancy will exhibit signs of increased testosterone exposure, which may affect their hormone and reproductive function in future. The study was presented at the 58th Annual European Society for Paediatric Endocrinology Meeting. The findings of this study suggest that smoking is an endocrine disruptor that can masculinise girls in the womb and that daughter of women that smoked during pregnancy may suffer from hormonal and reproductive health problems in the long-term.

Smoking during pregnancy is widely considered bad for the health both for the mother and baby, yet some women persist and many are exposed to passive smoking. In addition to the many toxins present in cigarette smoke, it is also suspected of having endocrine-disrupting properties that may increase testosterone levels. Baby girls exposed to higher levels of the male hormone, testosterone, in the womb are at greater risk of abnormal development and long-term negative effects on their fertility and metabolism.

In this study, Dr Deniz Ozalp Kizilay and colleagues at Cigli State Training Hospital in Turkey, measured the AGD Anogenital distance, the distance from the midpoint of the anus to the genitalia in 56 newborn girls and 64 newborn boys, from mothers who smoked during pregnancy. AGD was significantly longer in the baby girls and correlated with the amount the mothers smoked. No effect was found on the AGD in the boys.

TAGS : study, smoking during pregnancy may affect daughters fertility, smoking, pregnancy, fertility, women health, research, ifairer