Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

  Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/MBqNURsBkRg   Kids of regular smokers who continued puffing while pregnant were at least 40% more likely to develop scaly, psoriatic skin by age 11.  Children of smokers using nicotine replacement instead of cigarettes still had a 36% higher risk.   Public health researchers at the University of Copenhagen tabulated data on about 26,000 children.  The risk of psoriasis was related to the numbers of cigarettes smoked rising to nearly 300% for women smoking 16 or more each day.   The investigators feel that nicotine as well as other chemicals in smokes may trigger that autoimmune process that leads to those thickened, itchy patches on children’s heads and extremities.  Ladies considering motherhood: stop now!   Groot, Jonathan et al.  Prenatal, infantile, and childhood tobacco exposure and risk of pediatric psoriasis in the Danish National Birth Cohort offspring.  Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, Volume 0, Issue 0. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaad.2019.09.038   #sm