We know it too well, the tobacco during pregnancy is risky for the pregnant woman who exposes herself to an increased risk of miscarriage. The future baby is also not spared, as he is at increased risk of premature birth or developmental delay. But the smoke of the cigarette does not evaporate so easily: it would leave traces on the following generations by impacting the health of the grandchildren whose maternal grandmothers were smokers. This is the worrying conclusion of a study published in the scientific journal American Journal of Human Biology. The University of Bristol, at the origin of this work, found that grandchildren whose grandmothers are smokers are more corpulent and more at risk of developing cardiovascular disease than others.
The study shows differences between generations. The granddaughters whose grandmothers are smokers turn out to be thinner and smaller than the girls whose grandmothers and mothers are non-smokers.
When the mother and the grandmother smoke, the teenagers have a greater body mass but a less developed muscle mass than the others.
These body differences confirm that the harmful effects of cigarettes are transmitted from generation to generation. “These results could serve as a model for future studies dealing with the same subject. They must therefore be taken into account, ”considers Professor Marcus Pembrye, lead author of the study, quoted by Pourquoidocteur.
