Smoking in expectant moms causes complications akin to preterm delivery, low birth weight and health issues of their children. But can a father’s smoking habit during teenage years affect the health of a toddler? A recent study has found that boys who smoke of their early teens risk passing damaged genes to their future kids.

Findings of a recent study published within the journal Clinical Epigenetics suggest that the effect of smoking can last for generations. Furthermore, it hints that smoking within the teenage years causes DNA changes within the sperm which then ends in alterations within the DNA of their future babies, elevating the danger of developing asthma and obesity and reducing lung function.

The research team evaluated the epigenetic profiles (the DNA changes) of 875 participants between the ages of seven and 50 and the smoking habits of their fathers. The DNA changes related to asthma, obesity and wheezing were seen to be more pronounced in those participants whose fathers began smoking before the age of 15.

“Changes in epigenetic markers were rather more pronounced in children whose fathers began smoking during puberty than those whose fathers had began smoking at any time before conception,” Negusse Kitaba, co-lead writer of the study, said in a news release.

“Early puberty may represent a critical window of physiological changes in boys. That is when the stem cells are being established which is able to make sperm for the remaining of their lives,” Kitaba explained.

The researchers examined how fathers smoked before having children and compared them to participants who smoked themselves, in addition to to moms who smoked before becoming pregnant.

“Interestingly, we found that 16 of the 19 markers related to fathers’ teenage smoking had not previously been linked to maternal or personal smoking. This means these recent methylation biomarkers could also be unique to children whose fathers have been exposed to smoking in early puberty,” Gerd Toril Mørkve Knudsen, one other co-lead writer of the study, said.

In keeping with Julian Laubenthal, a co-author of the study, men should quit the habit of smoking well upfront of attempting to conceive as a fertile sperm cell takes around three months to develop.

The study suggests that neglecting to deal with harmful exposures in young teenagers today may adversely affect the respiratory health of future generations.

Published by Medicaldaily.com