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2 May 2005
Smoking Moms Benefit From High Doses Of Vitamin C 
High doses of vitamin C may have the potential to counteract some of the negative impacts of smoking in unborn babies, says research in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. The new findings, from researchers at Oregon Health & Science University, may benefit the thousands of babies born to mothers who continue to smoke throughout pregnancy despite warnings from their doctors. Nicotine is a key cause of lung development problems in babies. Previous research has clearly shown that infants born to smoking mothers often suffer from reduced lung air flow. Specifically, nicotine crosses the placenta where it interacts with cells in the unborn infant's developing lungs. Smoking during pregnancy can also cause premature delivery, growth retardation and has been blamed for 5 percent to 10 percent of all fetal and neonatal deaths. "The sad reality is that approximately 11 percent of pregnant mothers continue to smoke during pregnancy - this translates to about a half a million American women a year," said the study's lead author Eliot Spindel. "Reflecting the highly addictive nature of smoking, these women continue to smoke despite the warnings of their physicians and despite a tremendous public awareness campaign aimed at preventing smoking during pregnancy.
While this research finding may assist the babies of these mothers, it does not make smoking during pregnancy more acceptable. It would only become a last resort treatment when an expectant mother is unwilling to stop smoking." In this research, the scientists studied a small group of infant monkeys born to mothers who received regular doses of nicotine - doses comparable to those of a smoking human mother. The breathing abilities and lung development of these monkeys were then compared with monkeys born to mothers who had received both nicotine and vitamin C doses during pregnancy. A third group of baby monkeys that did not receive either nicotine or vitamin C during prenatal development were studied as a control group. "We found that animals exposed to nicotine prior to birth had reduced air flow in the lungs compared to animals that were given nicotine and vitamin C. In fact, the nicotine plus vitamin C group had lung air flow close to that of a normal animal," explained Spindel. "While we strongly encourage all women to quit smoking, this is not always possible. These data suggest that vitamin C may be an important tool in preventing smoking-induced adverse outcomes," said co-researcher Michael Gravett. The scientists caution that while the research demonstrates vitamin C's promise for counteracting the effects of nicotine on lung function, vitamin C did not counteract other negative health impacts of smoking during pregnancy such as abnormal brain development and decreased body weight.
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