According to a recent British study, smoking a man who started at a prepubescent age could influence his great-granddaughters. Nevertheless, the authors of the study themselves recognize some shortcomings of their work.
Smoking very early in life could impact your offspring over several generations. This conclusion is that of a study published in the journal Scientific Reports on January 21, 2022. Epidemiologist Jean Golding from the University of Bristol (UK) and his team believe that early smoking can have significant consequences on members of the same family , although these are not immediately visible. Scientists mention the case of several men who started smoking at a prepubescent age. However, their great-granddaughters were more likely to be affected by excess fat in adulthood.
You should know that Jean Golding's team started working on the subject in 2014. At the time, data from a previous study was used led by the person concerned. This work was called Children of the 90s’ study. According to the results, the sons of fathers who started smoking before the age of eleven would be more likely to have a higher body mass index (BMI) in adolescence. The findings also suggested higher body fat and average waist circumference.
Recent publication details a deepening of the data from the previous study. However, scientists now believe that the phenomenon concerns several generations. This time it's about effects that a grandfather can pass on to his granddaughter and even from a great-grandfather to his great-granddaughter. One specificity, however:the effects can be observed even if the intermediate generations do not smoke regularly before the age of thirteen. In other words, the effects could bepassed down four generations.
Scientists cite a rare example of a transgenerational marker transmitted to children in humans, outside of genetics. It turns out that the current evidence of effects from past exposures comes from animal research. Thus, this work could help medicine to better understand intergenerational relationships in health, including their origin.
However, Jean Golding and his team have highlighted the limitations of their own research. It must be said that many data are missing, particularly concerning childhood and especially the lifestyle of great-grandparents and grandparents. Thus, further studies are needed to fully confirm what could represent an important discovery .
