SMOKING BY MOM BOOSTS BABY'S HIV RISK [05/02]

Smoking during pregnancy during pregnancy increases the chance that a woman infected with HIV will pass the virus onto her unborn child, new research shows.

"In addition to contributing to poor health outcomes, we know that nicotine is toxic to blood vessels and adversely affects the placenta, promoting premature rupture of the membranes surrounding the baby," explains Dr. Barbara Turner, professor of medicine at Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

"Our study shows that smoking may be especially dangerous for HIV-positive pregnant women because its effects may increase the baby's exposure to blood and other maternal secretions that contain the virus during delivery,'' the lead study researcher adds. ``For women who are not treated with antiretroviral medications and who have more advanced disease, smoking is associated with a greatly increased risk of maternal-child HIV transmission."

Even after adjusting for various factors, smoking continued to be strongly associated with an increased rate of mother-fetus HIV transmission. This was especially true for women with more advanced AIDS.

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