Babies who are exposed to tobacco smoke prenatally or as infants are more likely to become hooked on cigarettes in early adulthood, according to a new study from the University of Arizona.

Dr. Roni Grad, a professor of pediatrics, assessed children during their mothers' pregnancies, at 1.5 months, at 1.5 years, and again at ages six, nine, 11, 16, and 22 years old. If mothers smoked during pregnancy or early childhood, their children were more likely to be smokers at ages 16 and 22 years old. Fathers' smoking habits did not matter.

"I would definitely discourage any mother from smoking around her child," Dr. Grad said at the annual meeting of the American Thoracic Society. "If they were exposed early, I would go the extra mile to keep them from experimenting because they may be at higher risk of becoming nicotine dependent very quickly."

Teen smoking has been associated with a wide range of health and behavioral problems, including the development of anxiety disorders.

Labels: smoking, parents, anxiety

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Teens who smoke marijuana may be self-medicating for legitimate medical conditions such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, insomnia, and anxiety, according to a new study from the University of British Columbia.

Dr. Joan Bortoff and her colleagues surveyed 63 adolescents who reported having smoked marijuana on a daily basis. About a third of the adolescents who were surveyed said they had stopped taking prescription drugs such as Ritalin and Prozac for various conditions and substituted marijuana instead. Marijuana was immediately effective in relieving anxiety and other conditions, and did not cause as many side effects as their prescription drugs.

"They did not like how these drugs made them feel or found them ineffective," Dr. Bortoff said. "For these kids, the purpose of smoking marijuana was not specifically about getting high or stoned."

This study appeared in the journal Substance Abuse, Treatment, Prevention & Policy.

Labels: teen_drug_use, marijuana, adhd, anxiety, medications

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A new study of rats indicates that exposure to alcohol in adolescence can predispose them to heavy drinking as adults.

"We know that adolescence is a vulnerable time," said Dr. Nicole Schramm-Sapyta of Duke University Medical Center. "Our key finding is that drinking patterns may be established after only a few exposures to alcohol. Rats that demonstrate a 'taste' for alcohol after only three nights of drinking were very likely to be the biggest drinkers after longer-term exposure."

Dr. Schramm-Sapyta and her colleagues expected to find that "teenaged" rats with elevated anxiety levels or those that enjoyed seeking novelty were more likely to develop a taste for drinking. But this was not the case. She said that early exposure to alcohol was the main factor they found. This study appears in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Teen alcoholism can take its toll on every member of the family. Learn more about teen alcoholism at DrugRehabTreatment.com.

Labels: exposure, anxiety, development

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