‘Babies born to smoking parents risk leukemia’

Paediatric leukaemia is a risk factor for newborns born to parents who smoke heavily or more than 20 sticks of cigarettes every day, according to medical specialists.



They emphasised the possible effects of a father's smoking on the health of his children, implying that the smoker's exposure to the dangerous compounds in tobacco could have an effect on subsequent generations as well.



According to the doctors, the carcinogens in cigarette smoke may cause genetic mutations and epigenetic modifications that could put kids at risk for a number of illnesses, including leukaemia.



They cautioned that this highlighted the need of quitting smoking, especially for men who intend to become dads, adding that cutting back on tobacco use improves the father's health as well as the chances of a healthier pregnancy and better results for the unborn child.



The doctors, who talked, were responding to the research showing that fathers who smoke before getting pregnant put their unborn offspring at higher risk of developing leukaemia as youngsters.



Jeffrey Chang et al.'s study, "Parental Smoking and the Risk of Childhood Leukaemia," which was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, established a link between paternal smoking and leukaemia in children as well as adults.



Between 1995 and 2002, the Northern California Childhood Leukaemia research, a case-control research, looked at the relationship between parental smoking and the risk of childhood leukaemia.



A total of 416 controls, matched for age, sex, maternal race, and Hispanic ethnicity, and 327 cases of acute childhood leukaemia (281 cases of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia and 46 cases of acute myeloid leukaemia), were included in the analysis.



The investigation found that whereas mother smoking was not associated with an increased risk of either acute lymphoblastic leukaemia or acute myeloid leukaemia, paternal preconception smoking was significantly associated with an increased risk of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

According to Dr. Isaiah Abali, a consultant orthopaedic surgeon at the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, there may be a connection between the incidence of childhood leukaemia and exposure to paternal preconception smoking, either alone or in conjunction with postnatal passive smoking.



He underlined the serious effects of parental smoking on the course of pregnancies, pointing out that studies have indicated that the toxic compounds in cigarettes can have a negative impact on the health of an unborn child.



While asking prospective dads to reevaluate their smoking habits, Abali, noted, “The findings strongly suggest that exposure to paternal preconception smoking, alongside postnatal passive smoking, may significantly increase the risk of childhood bone cancers, and leukaemia of the bone marrow.”



He emphasised that dealing with this matter is crucial to improving children's long-term health and lowering the incidence of childhood cancers linked to parental behaviours.

He pointed out that the results highlighted the need for increased public knowledge of the dangers of paternal smoking and pushed for the creation of resources and support networks for quitting to help expectant fathers make the decision to give up for the health of their future offspring.



While the dangers linked with maternal smoking during pregnancy are becoming more widely known, he continued, there is an urgent need for additional knowledge regarding the risks related with paternal preconception tobacco use.



"Educating parents about the dangers of smoking on a foetus from both maternal and paternal sources as well as the advantages of quitting is important.



He continued, "The study emphasises the serious health hazards associated with being around cigarette smoke, emphasising that fathers who smoke not only harm themselves but also put their kids at risk for leukaemia."



However, Gregory Erhabor, a professor of medicine at Obafemi Awolowo University in Ile-Ife, Osun State, pointed out that more research is needed to determine the connection between childhood leukaemia and parental smoking, despite the fact that it has been linked to asthma, some cancers, and other respiratory problems.



Although such studies are still in their infancy, the former president of the Nigerian Thoracic Society admitted that he had not yet looked into the precise connection between father smoking and kid leukaemia.



"I haven't found any research on this subject, but I will investigate further to determine the connection,” he said.

He acknowledged the well-established connection between father smoking and asthma, but he was unsure about the connection to leukaemia.



In order to fully comprehend the effects of parental smoking on children's health, his remarks underscore the necessity for more thorough research in this field.