University of Sydney researchers have discovered that children whose mothers smoke during pregnancy had lower levels of the type of cholesterol known to protect against heart disease in later life - high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.By the age of eight children born to mothers who smoked while they were pregnant had HDL cholesterol levels of about 1.3 millimoles per litre (mmol/L) compared to the more normal level of 1.5 mmol/L in children whose mothers had not smoked.
This effect was independent of whether children were exposed to cigarette smoke after birth, suggesting prenatal exposure had the most impact on subsequent development. The research, published online in the European Heart Journal, was led by David Celermajer, Scandrett Professor of Cardiology at the University of Sydney.
