Greater risk of autism from smoking whilst pregnant

OVER the last few years considerable attention has been paid, and rightly so, to the apparent increases in the number of children with autism.

In 1998 a single study published in The Lancet reviewed the cases of 12 children diagnosed with autism and concluded that there might be a link between autism and the MMR vaccine.

Significant follow-up studies and reports from credible authorities in this area have strongly refuted the findings of that single study. Nevertheless, many parents have decided not to immunise their children with the MMR vaccine for fear that their child might get autism.

More recently, the authors of a new report, from the prestigious Karonliska Institute in Stockholm, published in the July issue of the journal Epidemiology, have found that children of mothers who smoked on a daily basis in early pregnancy had a 40% greater risk of being autistic.

This is a major study that compares the cases of 408 children born in Sweden between 1974 and 1993 who were diagnosed with autism, with 2,040 children born during the same period who did not have autism. It is postulated that the blood supply to the foetus may be compromised or that nicotine in the blood stream could be blocking transmissions to and from the brain. Whatever the reason, The findings are dramatic and underscore yet again the dreadful harm that smoking can cause to all concerned.

Smoking in pregnancy has already been shown to be associated with impulsive behaviour, conduct disorder, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, asthma and cot death in children so exposed.

For those who wish to give their child the best start in life, the evidence is overwhelming avoid active and passive smoking in pregnancy.

Dr Fenton Howell,

Chairman, ASH Ireland,

5, Northumberland Road,

Dublin 4.