Does Tobacco Smoke Cause Asthma?
- Saturday, July 18, 2009, 13:51
- Asthma
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- Gina:
- We’ve talked about smoking triggering asthma attacks. Does smoking cause asthma?
- Dr. Redding:
- First of all, very few people are allergic to smoke. That’s the first response. The second is that smoking clearly has adverse effects in children less than five in terms of pneumonias, episodes of bronchitis, exacerbations in asthma. All of those are worsened by exposure to tobacco smoke. We know that in children who have asthma, they are more likely to have asthma exacerbations if they are exposed to tobacco smoke. We know that in children hospitalized for asthma if they return home to a family that smokes, they recover more slowly and require more medications to return to baseline. So, no matter what the age, tobacco smoke adversely affects children with asthma.
- Gina:
- You’ve talked about the fact that just having an infant bury their face in a coat that has absorbed tobacco smoke can be a problem. I’m wondering about the smoke in the air. Do I have to practically be able to see it and smell it before it can be a problem?
- Dr. Redding:
- I don’t think you need to see it at all. I do think your nose is a fabulous indicator of smoke exposure, and I tend to encourage families to invite friends who don’t smoke to their house because they have a good sense of smell if they don’t smoke and then decide if they can smell cigarette smoke. And if they can smell cigarette smoke, then the exposure to the family members is too much.
- Gina:
- And that’s even if nobody’s smoking at that time, just if there’s that smell in the room?
- Dr. Redding:
- When we talk about cigarette smoke, we talk about active tobacco exposure and passive, and active tobacco exposure is when someone smokes a cigarette and inhales it. Passive tobacco exposure involves the people around the room and around the smoker. Passive tobacco exposure is probably much more prevalent and is probably best detected by the nose rather than any special machine.
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