Children whose fathers smoked around the time of conception have a 35 per cent higher risk of developing childhood leukaemia, according to a new study.
The study looked at the association between parental smoking and the most common form of childhood cancer, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL).
“This fits with what we know about how tobacco smoke can damage the DNA in sperm, but these sperm are still able to fertilise an ovum,” said report author Dr Elizabeth Milne.
The research from Perth’s Telethon Institute for Child Health Research (ICHR), affiliated with The University of Western Australia, is published in the latest online edition of the American Journal of Epidemiology.
Read more at The University of Western Australia