There are umpteen reasons to quit smoking for good, and it seems that on a daily basis there is yet another story to hit the headlines that highlights more evidence of the massive damage that tobacco does to a person’s health and wellbeing. However, the researchers behind a study published in the March edition of Review of Obstetrics & Gynecology hanno spinto i confini un po 'più in questo senso con affermazioni relative al fumo e all'eredità genetica. Due Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (La Biomed), John S. Torday, Ph.D e Virender K. Rehan, M.D, credono che avere una nonna che fumava può aumentare notevolmente la tua possibilità di sviluppare la condizione respiratoria polmonareasthma – even if your mother was a non-smoker. They state that the chemicals and environmental factors which impact our body in the present day could have after-effects for family members in future generations due to the nicotine leaving a ‘mark’ on the genome (our complete set of DNA), making future generations more likely to develop conditions such as asthma or COPD. Referencing studies conducted by Dr. Rehan, the researchers explained in their editorial that pregnant rats administered nicotine went on to breed asthmatic pups, who then also produced asthmatic pups – even though there was no exposure to nicotine in the third generation. In addition, the researchers also cited the Children's Health Study from Southern California, which demonstrated that grandmaternal smoking when pregnant can greatly increase the asthma risk for grandchildren, regardless of whether the mother had been a smoker. The researchers concluded that asthma seen in the second generation was ‘epigenetic modification’ (an environmental factor resulting in a genetic alteration). It was determined that both the lung cells and sex cells were being impacted by nicotine in ways that caused the lungs that developed from those cells to then develop abnormally – resulting in asthma. This latest study is not the first one to connect smoking asthma, however could be deemed one of the more controversial. Previous studies have long established a link between a mother smoking at her children having a higher risk of developing asthma. Dr. Erika von Mutius published a study in Il Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology Oltre dieci anni fa dove ha detto: "L'esposizione al fumo di tabacco in utero aumenta significativamente il rischio di asma". Il Dr. Torday ha commentato: “Questi studi apportano nuove terre nel convalidare e spiegare ulteriormente i meccanismi coinvolti nella trasmissione di malattie umane epigenetiche. La trasmissione dell'asma alla seconda generazione e la sua prevenzione con un intervento molecolare in modo specifico. Il Dr. Rehan ha inoltre aggiunto: “L'asma è la malattia cronica più comune dell'infanzia, con conseguente impatto significativo sulla vita dei bambini e aumentando i costi medici per tutti. Mentre molti fattori contribuiscono all'asma, il fumo durante la gravidanza è ben consolidato e che può essere evitato. Eliminare il fumo durante la gravidanza ridurrebbe significativamente la prevalenza dell'infanzia asma per questa generazione e per le generazioni future.