Smokers watch out--Grandchildren of smokers at risk

From http://www.timesonline.co.uk, headline is linked.

April 10, 2005

Grandchildren of smokers at risk

NEW research suggests women who smoke while pregnant are putting their grandchildren as well as their children at risk, writes Jonathan Leake.
The study suggests that some of the chemicals in smoke can permanently alter the DNA of those exposed to it in ways that can be inherited by smokers’ children, grandchildren and possibly subsequent generations too.
The researchers analysed asthma rates in both the children and grandchildren of women who smoked during pregnancy.
They found the grandchildren of such women had 2.1 times the normal risk of developing asthma. The children of women who smoked in pregnancy were 1.5 times more likely to develop asthma.
Dr Frank Gilliland of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California said: “These findings indicate smoking could have a long-term impact on a family’s health that has never before been realised.”

Look out smokers, with this news, do-gooder liberals will be out to completely and totally restrict smoking among women, claiming that they're protecting future generations from your abuses.

This is interesting news, and not necessarily unexpected given some of the harm that does come from smoking. But seriously, news like this could be used by alarmists to justify even more restrictions on personal freedoms. Where does it end? Will women not be permitted to smoke if they are of child bearing age? For years before trying to conceive a child?

I'm glad I'm not a smoker, not a female, and don't have to worry too much about this except from the personal freedoms point of view, but the more we learn in the scientific and health area, the more it seems we give up personal freedoms and life styles, all in the name of living healthier, longer, but not necessarily happier lives.

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Given that smoking is a recent phenomenom. Given that the ALE is constantly going up. Given that the only thing that may cause the ALE to decline is Obesity (which some smokers are trying to avoid).

Given all that, I have just one word for this study.

BullSh*t.

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This just keeps on getting more and more stupid as time rolls along.

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