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Maternal Smoking Increases Risk of Attention Deficit Disorder

CONTACT:
Paul McIntyre or
Jean Carter
(916) 780-0226
Immediate Release: November 8, 2005

Danish researchers have concluded that children of mothers who smoke during pregnancy have triple the risk for ADHD/hyperkinetic disorder when compared to non-smokers. An incredible 59 percent of mothers of children diagnosed with the disorder were smokers, while only 35 percent of mothers of the study's control subjects smoked. The authors of the study suggest that the results may reflect that cigarette smoking has a biological effect on the fetal brain.
 
Hyperkinetic disorders are a group of disorders that appear early in a child's development (during the first crucial 5 years). The most commonly diagnosed mental disorders in child psychiatry, they are characterized by overactive, poorly modulated behavior; disorganized, ill-regulated and excessive activity; and lack of persistent task involvement. Children with ADHD are often reckless and impulsive, and prone to accidents. Additionally, cognitive impairment among these children is common.
 
The study, Smoking During Pregnancy and the Risk for Hyperkinetic Disorder in Offspring was conducted by researchers at the Aarhus University in Copenhagen, and published in the August, 2005 edition of Pediatrics. 170 children diagnosed with hyperkinetic disorder were matched by age and gender with 3765 control subjects, and their backgrounds compared.