Nicotine Exposure, Before and Afterbirth Can Prompt Hearing Problem in Child: Medical Trial Warns

Women, who frequently smoke before and after pregnancy are liable to put their newborn baby at risk of hearing loss, suggested a newly conducted medical research. Continuous exposure to Nicotine can lead to the issues in hearing among kids, revealed the research held by the analysts from the Freie Universitat Berlin in Germany. The risks of nicotine exposure associated with the newborn babies have been a matter of concern since long. Earlier, a number of clinical trials have confirmed about the harmful impact of nicotine on the newborn children, and the new research has once again corroborated the hypothesis.

Some previous studies have already revealed that frequent exposure to Nicotine during pregnancy can hamper the brain development of a foetus. And the new research has highlighted how the same matter can be linked up with the hearing loss of a child. According to the old study, mothers who used to smoke frequently, or draw on e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement rehabilitation are more prone to the risk of premature birth. It also can cause the weight loss newborn, also prompt increased risks of unexpected infant death.

The new research, carried out by the German scientists has revealed that Nicotine exposure, previous to and after the birth, can prompt hearing problems in the child. And the researcher found the atypical development in the brain’s auditory province to be the primary cause behind this. As highlighted by the study paper, kids with impaired acoustic brainstem function are more liable to suffer from learning problems with language improvement.

This is for the first time that research focused on the issues related to the auditory brainstem an integral part of the brain which plays a vital role in scrutinizing sound patterns. According to the study, the problems related to auditory brainstem may abnormally affect the offspring when pregnant moms are more prone to nicotine before and after the delivery.

To conduct the research, German scientists added nicotine to the potable water of pregnant mice, in an equivalent level to those of heavy smokers. This helped them to monitor the impact of nicotine on the newborn babies. When the pregnant mice delivered the babies, the researchers tested the firing and signaling capability of neurons in the brains of the mice. In contrast to the unexposed offspring, the researchers found the neurons sensitive of the affected mice offspring to be less capable of transmitting signals.

They also found that the signals transmitted by the nicotine-affected mice are to be less precise and the sound patterns are to be disrupted. The discovery, published in the Journal of Physiology showed that, if the mother used to smoke frequently before and during pregnancy, their kids are more likely to suffer from less hearing capability.