Roken tijdens zwangerschap
verstoort schildklier functie van moeder en kind
Cigarette smoking during pregnancy is
associated with potentially harmful changes in both maternal and fetal thyroid function,
according to a new study accepted for publication in The Endocrine Society's Journal of
Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM). "We studied the influence of
cigarette smoking on thyroid function of two groups of women at different stages of
pregnancy – one in the first trimester and the other in the third trimester,"
said Dr. Bijay Vaidya, Ph.D., of Peninsula Medical School at Royal Devon and Exeter
Hospital in the United Kingdom, and coauthor of the study. "In both groups we found
that smoking during pregnancy is associated with changes in the mothers' thyroid hormone
levels." Optimal maternal thyroid function during pregnancy is vital for a successful
pregnancy outcome, said Dr. Vaidya. The adverse outcomes associated with thyroid
dysfunction during pregnancy include increased risk of miscarriage, premature birth, low
birth weight and impaired neuropsychological development of the baby. Dr. Vaidya and his
colleagues also measured thyroid hormone levels in the umbilical cord of babies born to
smoking mothers and found that smoking-related changes in thyroid function extend to the
fetus. Dr. Vaidya believes that impaired thyroid function in the fetus could have
potentially harmful biological consequences. The study also found that in mothers who
stopped smoking during pregnancy their thyroid hormone levels were comparable to levels
found in non-smokers, which suggests that changes in thyroid function are rapidly
reversible. There is currently no definitive explanation for how smoking affects thyroid
function, but Dr. Vaidya suggests that smoking may influence thyroid hormone levels by
affecting the enzyme which converts the active form of thyroid hormone to an inactive
form.
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