杏吧原创

DOPE-smoking dads double the risk of cot death, a survey in California
reveals.

Hilary Klonoff-Cohen and Phung Lam-Kruglick at the University of California,
San Diego, wanted to find out if drugs such as marijuana increase the risk of
sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). They interviewed the parents of 239 infants
who had died of SIDS, comparing them with those of 239 healthy infants.

They found that the risk doubled when fathers used cannabis, regardless of
whether this was around conception, during pregnancy or after birth. But
surprisingly, the study didn鈥檛 reveal any increase in risk with maternal
use.

This may be because so few women in the study smoked cannabis or admitted to
it, Klonoff-Cohen reports. Or it could be because men smoke more cannabis, more
often than women.

Why dope should increase the risk of SIDS even at conception isn鈥檛 clear. But
the key ingredient, tetrahydrocannabinol, closely resembles a signalling
chemical in the body called anandamide that affects sperm and embryos.

鈥淚 would emphasise that the major problem is maternal tobacco smoking when
pregnant, rather than these other drugs,鈥� says Ed Mitchell, a SIDS expert at
Auckland University in New Zealand. This can make the risk of SIDS as much as 15
times higher.