We already know that smoking during pregnancy is harmful for many reasons. Including sudden infant death syndrome, as it is among one of the multiple factors associated with it.
A study by Canadian experts at McMaster University in Hamilton (Ontario) has concluded that the increased risk of a baby dying as a result of sudden death syndrome if the mother smokes during pregnancy It is specifically due to the effect of nicotine in your body.
The experimentation has been carried out with rats and demonstrates that nicotine exposure impairs the ability of chromaffin cells (those responsible for detecting the decrease of oxygen in the blood), to produce catecholamines, hormones that have a generally stimulating effect and that they would help the baby to wake up from sleep so he can breathe better.
The researchers found that nicotine injected into mother rats caused a significant reduction in sensitivity to oxygen depletion in the chromaffin cells of newborn rats, preventing them from reacting to an increase in carbon dioxide levels in their bodies.
The conclusion reached by Dr. Colin A. Nurse and his team was that maternal smoking impairs the ability of newborn children to respond to lack of oxygen, due to the direct action of nicotine among all the harmful components of tobacco.
Meanwhile, other researchers continue to study this syndrome which, although it has a relatively low incidence, continues to worry parents and specialists. Any light that can be contributed on the multiple factors associated with sudden death is welcome.
