WESTCHESTER, Ill. Pregnant women exposed to passive
smoking are more likely to have sleep disturbances such as subjective
insufficient sleep, difficulty in initiating sleep, short sleep
duration, and snoring loudly or breathing uncomfortably, according to a
study published in the September 1 issue of the journal SLEEP.
The study, authored by Takashi Ohida, MD, of Nihon University in Tokyo,
Japan, focused on the responses of 16,396 and 19,386 pregnant women in
Japan to two cross-sectional questionnaire surveys in 2002 and 2006,
respectively.
The results also showed that pregnant women who smoke had the same sleep
disturbances, and also experienced excessive daytime sleepiness and
early morning awakening.
Dr. Ohida noted that in the surveys, the spouse was the source of the
environmental tobacco smoke for 80 percent or more of pregnant women. The
prevalence of smoking among Japanese men was 53 percent, which is higher
than that among men in the United States (26 percent) or in the United
Kingdom (27 percent). With this in mind, it is important to study the issue
of passive smoking among Japanese women and their health, added Dr. Ohida.
The relationship between passive smoking exposure and some negative health
outcomes in pregnant women could be mediated by the ability of passive smoke
to disrupt sleep, said Dr. Ohida. Educational programs that point out the
adverse effects of passive smoking during pregnancy could help improve sleep
hygiene in this group of individuals and help prevent other negative health
outcomes associated with disturbed sleep.
A womans body goes through drastic changes during and after pregnancy. These
changes can be physical, hormonal and emotional. In addition to smoking or
being exposed to second-hand smoke, all of these changes can also affect a
womans sleep.
Most pregnant women experience daytime fatigue even though they may get more
sleep. This is because the quality of their
