Children in the Womb Exposed to Cigarette Smoke More at Risk for Addiction?

In a recent study (Müller, K.U., et al. (2013). Altered Reward Processing in Adolescents With Prenatal Exposure to Maternal Cigarette Smoking. JAMA Psychiatry, online, 06/19/13, summarized by The Partnership at Drugfree.org), researchers found that children exposed to cigarette smoke while still in the womb (prenatally) may be predisposed to be attracted to nicotine because of brain chemistry changes in how the brain's reward processing system functioned due to the prenatal exposure to cigarette smoke. Brain imaging studies (MRI) showed that teens exposed prenatally to cigarette smoke had reactions to stimuli that were slower in anticipation of a reward than the reactions of teens not exposed to prenatal smoke. These slowed reactions were interpreted by the researchers to perhaps " *** represent a risk factor for substance use and development of addiction later in life. They explained the reduced activity of brain chemicals that signal satisfaction may lead people to continue to seek a high, and become addicted to particular substances or behaviors." So, it seems we have here yet another reason for pregnant, or about to be pregnant, women to not only not smoke themselves but also to avoid exposure of themselves and their infants in the womb to cigarette smoke or any other source of nicotine regardless of who is doing the smoking. As always, comments are invited. Jan Edward Williams, 06/25/2013.