We add to the number of studies already published on the health problems that future smoking mothers create for their children, in addition to themselves, the results of the WHISTLER study, headed by Carolina C. Geerts of the University Medical Center of Utrech in the Netherlands . Babies, especially boys, who are exposed to tobacco while they are in the womb, they are born with a higher systolic tension. Smaller, thinner and hypertensive. Do you plan to continue smoking?
They followed 456 children when they were two months old, whose heart rate, tension and lung function were measured. 6.6% of the mothers of these babies smoked during pregnancy and 13.8% were passive smokers, that is, they were in smoky environments. The tension of these future moms showed no differences, but that of the children. The babies of the pregnant smokers showed a higher systolic tension (the one that measures blood pressure when the heart is contracted) higher, what surprised it was that it occurred to a greater extent in boys. They assess the possibility that failure in fetal growth due to smoking may cause poor development of organs in general, including the kidneys. This could culminate in a bad expulsion of the urine and as a consequence the hypertension. You can also consider hormonal changes, in the autonomic nervous system, etc.
The research team intends to continue monitoring these children for about four or five years to assess whether this increase in blood pressure raises cardiovascular risk in the future.
