A child whose maternal grandmother smoked while pregnant with the child's mother has an increased risk of developing asthma, according to a study published in the April issue of the journal... Chest, the Scripps Howard/Arizona Daily Star reports. Dr. Frank Gilliland, a professor of preventive medicine at the University of Southern California, and colleagues interviewed the parents or guardians of 908 children participating in a long-term health study that included young people in grades four, seven and 10. By age five, 338 of the children had developed asthma, and the other 570 were asthma-free (Scripps Howard/Arizona Daily Star, 4/12). Compared with children whose mothers and grandmothers did not smoke during pregnancy, children of women whose mothers and grandmothers smoked during pregnancy were 2.6 times as likely to have developed asthma by age five. Children whose mothers smoked during pregnancy but whose grandmothers did not smoke and children whose maternal grandmothers smoked but whose mothers did not smoke were 1.5 times and 1.8 times, respectively, as likely to have developed asthma as children whose mothers and grandmothers did not smoke (BBC News, 4/11). According to the researchers, tobacco smoke exposure in utero could damage a fetus's DNA and reproductive cells, leading to "harmful effects" for "generations," the Scotsman reports (Innes, Scotsman, 4/12). "This is the first study to show that if a woman smokes while she is pregnant, both her children and grandchildren may be more likely to have asthma as a result," Gilliland said, adding, "The findings suggest that smoking could have a longer-lasting impact on families' health than we had ever realized" (UPI/Washington Times, 4/12). Gilliland also said that the findings were "unexpected and novel" and that additional research is needed to confirm the results. "We're just starting to understand these things," he said, adding, "We need to really focus resources on this" (Bakalar, New York Times, 4/12).

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