Smoking ups strabismus risk in newborn
For each cigarette a pregnant woman lights up each day, she is placed at an increased risk of giving birth to a child with crossed eyes, a new study finds.
Strabismus, often known as crossed eyes, is used for about 30 different conditions in which the eyes are unable to line-up in the same direction when focusing on an image.
According to the study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, exposure to toxic substances found in tobacco may affect the developing brain, leading to strabismus.
Smoker expectant mothers are 26 percent more likely to have a baby with strabismus; the influence is stronger when the mother smokes in later stages of pregnancy.
As for those who smoke 10 or more cigarettes per day, the risk is reported to be as high as 90 percent, the study found.
'We were able to show that each extra cigarette smoked per day during pregnancy exerted a 5 percent increase in strabismus risk, which is a new finding,' said lead researcher Tobias Torp-Pedersen.
Source: presstv.ir
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