Smoking During Pregnancy Lowers Levels of 'Good' HDL Cholesterol in Children

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/06/110621182959.htm

ScienceDaily (June 21, 2011) — Researchers in Australia have discovered that mothers who smoke during pregnancy are causing developmental changes to their unborn babies that lead to them having lower levels of the type of cholesterol that is known to protect against heart disease in later life -- high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

The research, published online in the European Heart Journal, showed that, by the age of eight years, children born to mothers who smoked while they were pregnant had HDL cholesterol levels of about 1.3 millimoles per litre (mmol/L), compared to the more normal level of 1.5 mmol/L in children born to mothers who had not smoked. After adjustments for various factors that might affect the result, the difference attributable to mothers' smoking was about 0.15 mmol/L. The researchers found that this effect was independent of whether the children had been exposed to other people's smoke after birth, suggesting that prenatal exposure had the most impact on the children's subsequent development.

David Celermajer, Scandrett Professor of Cardiology at the University of Sydney, Australia, who led the study, said: "Our results suggest that maternal smoking 'imprints' an unhealthy set of characteristics on children while they are developing in the womb, which may well predispose them to later heart attack and stroke. This imprinting seems to last for at least eight years and probably a lot longer.

Although cigarette smoking during and after pregnancy is known to be linked to a range of childhood health problems, including behavioural and neurocognitive problems and sudden infant death, until now it has been unclear what effect prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke had on the risk of future cardiovascular disease

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The researchers believe that the lower levels of HDL cholesterol at this age suggest there could be a serious impact on health in later life, as the children will probably continue to have low levels in adulthood. "Cholesterol levels tend to track from childhood to adulthood, and studies have shown that for every 0.025mmol/L increase in HDL levels, there is an approximately 2-3% reduction in the risk of coronary heart disease. If we extrapolate this, we can suggest that the difference of 0.15mmol/L between children of smoking mothers versus non-smoking mothers might result in a 10-15% higher risk for coronary disease in the children of smoking mothers. This is an approximation only, but the best one we have," said Prof Celermajer.

The researchers point out that the prevalence of smoking during pregnancy is still high, at around 15% in many Western countries.

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"The only ways to increase HDL levels are regular exercise and with the use of certain medications such as Niacin.

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