WEBVTT - What happens when pregnant women smoke cigarettes?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff from house stuff works dot com where

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<v Speaker 1>smart happens. Hi Marshall Brain with today's question, what happens

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<v Speaker 1>when pregnant women smoke cigarettes? By now, most people can

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<v Speaker 1>agree that smoking is not such a great idea for anyone.

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<v Speaker 1>It's pretty easy to come up with a list of

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<v Speaker 1>all the health problems that can afflict people who smoke cigarettes,

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<v Speaker 1>including sinus problems, difficulty breathing, and eventually emphysema, cancer, increased

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<v Speaker 1>risk of heart disease, increased risk of stroke, and so on.

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<v Speaker 1>Most of the damage caused by cigarette smoking doesn't appear

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<v Speaker 1>for years or decades, though, making a difficult to convince

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<v Speaker 1>smokers to give up their habit until it's too late. However,

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<v Speaker 1>when a pregnant woman smokes, the nicotine and other compounds

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<v Speaker 1>found in tobacco pose both an immediate and an extended

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<v Speaker 1>threat to the health of her developing child. These dangers

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<v Speaker 1>include increased risk of miscarriage, increased risk of sudden infant

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<v Speaker 1>death syndrome, premature birth, low birth weight, behavioral problems like hyperactivity,

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<v Speaker 1>and reduced verbal and mathematical ability. Many chemicals, including nicotine,

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<v Speaker 1>can readily move from the mother's blood stream into the

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<v Speaker 1>fetal blood supply. This is why physicians are so cautious

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<v Speaker 1>about what over the counter and prescription drugs women take

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<v Speaker 1>when they're expecting a child. When a pregnant woman inhales

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<v Speaker 1>cigarette smoke, she exposes herself and her fetus to things like,

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<v Speaker 1>first of all, nicotine. If you smoke while pregnant, your

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<v Speaker 1>child will be exposed to almost the same level of

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<v Speaker 1>nicotine as you. That means that once he or she

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<v Speaker 1>is born and is no longer getting nicotine intravenously, the

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<v Speaker 1>symptoms of nicotine withdrawal will likely set in. Nicotine also

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<v Speaker 1>affects the wiring of the developing brain, depending on when

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<v Speaker 1>during brain development, exposure occurs. Nicotine can reduce the number

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<v Speaker 1>of neurons in a brain region or change the way

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<v Speaker 1>the neurons signal each other. Neither of these options is

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<v Speaker 1>particularly appetizing when you think about it. Then, there's cyanide.

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<v Speaker 1>Cyanide prevents cells from using oxygen for various metabolic processes,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's one of the most deadly poisons around. There's

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<v Speaker 1>also carbon monoxide in the smoke. That's another poison that

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<v Speaker 1>diminishes the oxygen reaching the fetus. There's cadmium, found in

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<v Speaker 1>rechargeable batteries. This heavy metal damages your kidneys. Without proper

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<v Speaker 1>filtration and excretion by the kidneys, waste products from different

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<v Speaker 1>cellular processes build up in your blood. There's also arsenic,

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<v Speaker 1>another heavy metal that interferes with the conversion of food

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<v Speaker 1>to fuel inside your cells, and formaldehyde, which locks proteins

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<v Speaker 1>in a rigid formation. With the exception of nicotine, which

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<v Speaker 1>scientists know is a major problem, it's not thought that

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<v Speaker 1>there's enough of any of these other chemicals in cigarette

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<v Speaker 1>smoke to cause severe damage to either the smoker or

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<v Speaker 1>the baby. It's more likely that all of these compounds

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<v Speaker 1>in combination have the net effect of messing things up

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<v Speaker 1>in lots of small ways. This may be one reason

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<v Speaker 1>why baby is born to smokers are smaller than average

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<v Speaker 1>for more illness, and thousands of other topics. Does that

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