Pubdate: Sat, 21 Oct 2000
Source: New Scientist (UK)
Copyright: New Scientist, RBI Limited 2000
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Section: New Scientist "In Brief" column
Page: 27

BORN ADDICTS

THE more painkillers a woman gets during labour, the more likely her child 
is to abuse drugs later in life.

Karin Nyberg of the University of Gothenburg and her colleagues looked at 
medication given to the mothers of 69 adult drug abusers and 33 of their 
siblings who did not abuse drugs. They found that 23 per cent of the drug 
abusers were exposed to multiple doses of opiates or barbiturates in the 
hours before birth, compared with only 3 per cent of their siblings without 
drug problems (Epidemiology, vol 11, p 715). If the mothers received three 
or more doses, their child was nearly five times as likely to abuse drugs.

The researchers don't know exactly how a short exposure to drugs could 
produce such long-term effects, but some rat studies have shown that 
exposure to a drug in the womb can change an animal's reaction to it later on.
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