Smoking could put your child's kidney at risk

Women who smoke during pregnancy may be more likely to have children with kidney damage than mothers who steer clear of cigarettes, a study suggests.
 
Smoking during pregnancy has long been linked to pre-term and underweight babies and a wide range of birth defects. The current study offers fresh evidence that the kidneys are among the organs at risk for damage, said lead author Maki Shinzawa, a public health researcher at Kyoto University in Japan. “Cigarette smoking releases nicotine and other harmful or potentially harmful substances, such as nitrogen oxide, polycarbonate, and carbon monoxide, some of which cross the placenta,” Shinzawa said by email. “Some of these trans-placental substances may affect fetal programming of the kidney during pregnancy.”

 
Shinzawa and colleagues examined data from urine tests from 44,595 children to look for elevated levels of protein in the urine, which can indicate impaired kidney function. Data on maternal smoking was collected during women’s prenatal checkups, and researchers also had records from their children’s health checkups at four, nine, 18 and 36 months of age.