Study Finds exposure to lead and smoking in utero can increase chance of ADHD
| December 3, 2009 | Posted by SuperADDMom under Neuro-News |
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) November 30 Bulletin, mothers who smoke, or are exposed to lead, while pregnant increase the risk of their child developing Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In addition, the combination of lead exposure and smoking during pregnancy carries an even greater risk of developing ADHD.
Hospital study links lead, smoking, and ADHD
Tanya Froehlich, of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, reports that children with moms who smoked while pregnant were nearly 3 times more likely to have ADHD, and children whose mothers were exposed to lead while pregnant were just over 2 times more likely to develop ADHD. A child whose mother who was both exposed to lead and smoked during pregnancy was over 8 times as likely to have ADHD as a child without these prenatal risk factors.
Reducing ADHD cases
Stop lead exposure, both during pregnancy and during infancy and childhood, and prevent smoking during pregnancy, and the number of ADHD cases could be reduced by as much as 38%, according to this study.
