Most sensitive to exposure to cocaine male fetus

Boys exposed to cocaine in utero are more likely to develop behavioral problems, hyperactivity-type childhood, compared to girls who have experienced the same conditions, suggest the results of a study published in the "Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. "
Dr. Virginia Delaney-Black and colleagues at Children's Hospital of Michigan has identified no specific influence of the sex of the fetus explaining this difference, they conclude that their work confirms previous observations in animals, which suggested a variable influence of prenatal cocaine exposure by sex of the unborn child.

For this study, American researchers have focused on 473 children aged 6-7 years, enrolled in the Detroit area, and whose mothers had suffered, among other prenatal tests, a test for cocaine.

These tests have identified 204 children exposed in utero to cocaine, and 24 of them (12%) were considered to have experienced a "persistent" exposure because traces of cocaine were again found in the urine from their mothers at birth.

U.S. scientists have identified children with cognitive and behavioral disorders based on the testimony of their teachers, while all the young participants and their parents have had to undergo a new test for cocaine.

The analysis of data shows that boys exposed to cocaine in utero (so persistent or occasional) suffer more frequently than non-hyperactive boys and exposed than girls, whether or not known exposure Prenatal this drug.

After adjusting the results to take into account the influence of other parameters (prenatal exposure to alcohol or other drugs, use of such substances by some members of the family after the birth ...), the authors found that boys exposed to cocaine in utero persistently also are more difficult to drive an abstract reasoning and poorer motor skills.

In summary, it is both the sex of the fetus and the intensity of prenatal cocaine exposure that significantly alter the behavior of children, the authors conclude.