WEDNESDAY, June 20 (HealthDay News) -- When infants are exposed to secondhand smoke, they have higher levels of the nicotine metabolite cotinine, which may affect their cardiorespiratory system, according to study findings published in the June issue of the Archives of Disease in Childhood -- Fetal and Neonatal Edition.
Mike Wailoo, M.D., of the University of Leicester in Leicester, U.K., and colleagues studied 104 infants at 12 weeks of age, including 71 with smoking parents and 33 with non-smoking parents.
The researchers found that cotinine levels in infants were an average of 5.58 times higher in infants with at least one smoking parent than in infants with non-smoking parents. The strongest risk factors were maternal smoking followed by co-sleeping and a high minimum room temperature.
"Babies and children are routinely exposed to cigarette smoke by their carers in their homes, without the legislative protection available to adults in public places," the authors conclude. "There are practical difficulties in preventing smoking in family residences, which relies heavily on the goodwill of the parent/carer and accompanying education about strategies to reduce harm related to passive smoking. The well recognized maternal desire to protect the child is the great hope for the future."
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