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WORLD / America
Pregnant smokers may suffer depression
(AP)
Updated: 2007-09-11 19:44
WASHINGTON - More than one in 10 pregnant women smoke, and new research
suggests many of them also may suffer from depression, making kicking the
habit even harder.
The emerging science suggests that decades-old "quit for your baby"
messages are too simplistic an approach for many women - and that perhaps
prenatal checkups should include screening pregnant smokers for mental
health disorders that themselves require care.
"These ladies all know, I promise you, about the health risks. That's not
what it is," says Dr. Jan Blalock of the University of Texas M.D Anderson
Cancer Center, which has begun a first-of-a-kind study, Project Baby
Steps, to test whether non-drug depression therapy helps pregnant smokers
quit.
"We should at least understand more about why these ladies don't quit. We
should be looking more carefully instead of just saying, 'Whoop, got this
group of hard-core smokers.'"
Nearly 45 million Americans, or one in five adults, smoke. Quitting takes
on average three to five attempts, and scientists know it's harder if the
smoker has depression or anxiety disorders. In fact, one prescription
anti-smoking pill is actually the old antidepressant Wellbutrin sold
under a different name, Zyban.
Certainly learning how dangerous smoking is to their developing baby can
prompt women to try to quit. It increases the risk of miscarriage,
premature birth, low birthweight, death from SIDS, and learning and
behavior disorders.
But only recently have researchers begun to delve into why, despite the
enormous stigma, so many pregnant smokers don't quit. The government
estimates about 12 percent of pregnant women smoke.
Dr. Renee Goodwin, a Columbia University epidemiologist, tracked more
than 1,500 pregnant women who took part in a larger study of Americans'
health. A surprising 22 percent smoked at some point during pregnancy,
and about 12 percent were classified as nicotine-dependent.
Pregnant smokers were typically poor, less educated and had less access
to health care.
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