Diagnosed autism linked to maternal grandmother's smoking in pregnancy
The team also found that if the maternal grandmother smoked, this increased by 53% the risk of her grandchildren having a diagnosed autism spectrum disorder (ASD). These discoveries suggest that if a female is exposed to cigarette smoke while she is still in the womb, it could affect the developing eggs -- causing changes that may eventually affect the development of her own children. Further research is now needed to find out what these molecular changes might be, and to see whether the same associations are present in other groups of people. Unlike the analysis of autistic traits, which was based on over 7,000 participants, the 177 diagnosed with ASD were too few to analyse grandsons and granddaughters separately. The discovery, published today in Scientific Reports , is part of an ongoing, long-term study of the effects of maternal and paternal grandmother's smoking in pregnancy on the development of their grandchildren, who are all part of Children of the 90s. By using...