So why mothers, relatives, and friends
smoke around infants is quite a mystery.
Smoking when you're pregnant is a major risk factor for SIDS, and secondhand
smoke around your infant also increases the chances of SIDS.
Imagine a mother who
smokes around her infant daughter, causing epigenetic changes in her daughter that persist into adulthood, even if she moves away.
Not exact matches
But fortunately the primary factors that increase risk are now widely known i.e. placing an
infant prone (face down) for sleep, using soft mattresses, maternal
smoking, overwrapping babies or blocking air movement
around their faces.
Infants and children who are
around secondhand
smoke have higher rates of asthma attacks, respiratory infections, ear infections, and sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS) than those who are not.
The risk for sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS) becomes greater when a mother
smokes or when the baby is
around second - hand (or passive)
smoke.
The group of
infants exposed to secondhand
smoke had three times as many of a HPRT deletion that is common in leukemia and lymphomas as the
infants whose mothers were
around nonsmokers.