Smoking Can Cause Neural Tube Defects

The Neural tube is the name given to a baby’s developing brain and spinal cord inside the mother’s womb. If this tube gets closed, it is called Neural Tube Defect. It can happen at the 28th day of Fertilization. 2.6 cases of this defects per 1000 births are reported worldwide. There are several reasons for this tube to get closed. Latest Research (dated July 2009) reports that smoking can cause Neural Tube Defect. This article tries to gain further insight.

a-baby-in-the-making

What the Research involved ?

Cigarette Smoke

Significance of this research finding: Nearly 10% women in America, smoke during pregnancy.A report was released by the U.S. Public Health Service. It estimated that if all pregnant women quit smoking, there would be reduction of newborn deaths by 5% and stillbirths by 11%. Unfortunately, details of how the 2,500 chemicals in the cigarette smoke affect the baby in a mother’s womb are not known. In light of these above statistics, the knowledge gained from this research is of considerable importance.

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