Men experience more long-lasting effects if their mother smoked while pregnant (maternal smoking) than women do, research has found.
The UK study also found that those men died younger if they went on to smoke themselves.
More than 500,000 people were included in the large-scale genetic analysis to understand the long-term impact.
The researchers found that at every stage, male fetuses and adult sons were more affected by maternal smoking. This was observed as changes in levels of various genes in male fetal livers at 17 weeks pregnant, right through to adult males having shorter life expectancy.
Vitally, the authors highlight that if the adult man stops smoking, or never smoked at all, they could counter the risks.
The study also found that men were more likely to develop cancer as adults, with greater susceptibility to Type 2 diabetes.
While women were more likely to develop digestive and reproductive disorders, and mental health issues.
Researcher Mihail Mihov said: ‘We previously had limited knowledge about which processes in the womb are influenced by maternal smoking and how they translate to diminished health later in life.
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