TUCSON, Ariz., Aug. 31 -- For many adults with poor airway function or COPD, the genesis of the problem may have been in the womb, researchers reported.
Poor airway function shortly after birth should be recognized as a risk factor for later airflow obstruction and COPD and may result from poor fetal lung development, Fernando D. Martinez, M.D., of the University of Arizona here, and colleagues, reported in the Sept.1 issue of The Lancet.
Although the factors that affect pulmonary development in utero are not well understood, maternal smoking during pregnancy has been consistently associated with poor lung function in both infants and children, the researchers said.
Their findings emerged from a non-selective longitudinal study of 169 infants enrolled at birth in the Tucson Children's Respiratory Study from 1980 through 1984.
