HealthDay (1/15, Preidt) reports that, according to a study published in the January issue of the journal Biological Psychiatry, “daughters exposed to their mother’s stress hormones in the womb may be more likely to become nicotine-dependent later in life.” After analyzing “data from 649 women and 437 men who were followed for 40 years after being born to mothers whose hormone levels and smoking status were recorded during pregnancy,” researchers found that “exposure to elevated levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the womb and having a mother who smoked during pregnancy was linked to an increased likelihood that daughters, but not sons, would be at raised risk for nicotine dependence as adults.”
Related Links:
— “Smoking in Pregnancy Tied to Later Nicotine Addiction in Daughters, HealthDay , January 14, 2014.