In March 2018, a controlled study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Intensive Care. Scientists have concluded that consuming vitamin C prevents fetal lung damage caused by smoking by the mother.
What is vitamin C good for?
Ascorbic acid (synonym: Vitamin C) is an odorless organic compound that is soluble in water and has an acidic taste. It has a powerful antioxidant effect, i.e. "neutralizes" free radicals.
In humans, higher primates and guinea pigs, vitamin C is not produced by the body, so it must be taken through food.
Other animals (for example, cats) have a special enzyme - L-gluconolacton oxidase - which is involved in the production of ascorbic acid.
Every second smoker does not quit smoking during pregnancy. Cigarette smoking threatens the health of the child. Nicotine enters the blood circulation of the fetus through the placenta, and disrupts the development of the lungs.
The negative effect has been proven through experimental animal studies.
Experts noted that vitamin C can mitigate these negative effects.
What did American scientists reveal?
Cindy McEvoy of the University of Oregon, Portland, has previously shown that vitamin C treatment can improve lung function in newborns whose mothers smoked during pregnancy. Tests were conducted within 72 hours of birth. In 2016, researchers were not able to accurately enough study the lung function of the fetus.
Therefore, experts repeated the study with the second group of pregnant women. This time, lung function was studied in children aged 3 months. The RVRTC technique was used. Infants previously introduced a special substance for sedation - chloral hydrate. Then the lungs were ventilated through a face mask with a certain pressure. Subsequently, air was expelled from the lungs by controlled compression of the chest. Compression was created by a vest that was worn on the child before the examination.
The study involved 252 pregnant women who did not want to quit smoking cigarettes. They received 500 mg / day of vitamin C or placebo from 13 to 23 weeks of gestation.
All women were asked to quit smoking during the study. Only about 10% of women decided to completely quit smoking.
Children whose mothers took vitamin C during pregnancy had certain benefits. They had significantly better lung function than those whose mothers did not take vitamin C.
The main conclusion of scientists: vitamin C partially mitigates the negative effect of nicotine on fetal lung development. The benefits of ascorbic acid are based on the suppression of the formation of reactive oxygen species that affect the development of airway cells.
Does vitamin C help all children?
As in the previous study, a relationship was found with the genetic variant rs16969968 in the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor alpha-5 gene. In children with this gene variant, vitamin C treatment has achieved a slightly better effect. This indirectly confirms the assumption that nicotine, which entered the fetus through the placenta, acts on the nicotine receptor there.
Scientists attribute the harm of cigarettes to increased oxidative stress from passive smoking of the fetus.
It can be significantly reduced in the treatment of pregnant women with vitamin C. It was also revealed that smokers had lower blood vitamin concentrations before treatment than non-smokers.
What dose do scientists recommend?
Regular intake of vitamin supplements is a profitable and simple method to prevent the development of respiratory diseases in the fetus.
It is recommended for women to take up to 300-500 mg of ascorbic acid per day on an ongoing basis. If the expectant mother smokes more than 10-15 cigarettes, the dose of vitamin C should be increased to 600-700 mg per day.
Researchers plan to continue monitoring lung function in children. They intend to determine whether vitamin C supplementation will affect long-term health.
ATTENTION! Do not hope that ascorbic acid will completely correct the consequences of smoking a pregnant woman! Highly recommended - completely STOP smoking during the period of bearing and feeding the baby.
