Maternal Smoking Effects Continue Long After Birth

                The effects of maternal smoking continue long after birth, according to a new study which found that early exposure to nicotine can trigger widespread genetic changes that affect formation of connections between brain cells. The finding helps explain why maternal smoking has been linked to behavioral changes such as attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), addiction and conduct disorder. Nicotine does this by affecting a master regulator of DNA packaging, which in turn influences activity of genes crucial to the formation and stabilization of synapses between brain cells. When this regulator is induced in ice, they pay attention to a stimulus they should ignore. An inability to focus is the hallmark of ADHD and other behavioral disorder, which have been linked to maternal smoking and exposure to second-hand smoke. In the study, researchers found that mice exposed to nicotine during early development did indeed develop behavioral problems that mimic symptoms of ADHD in humans.