Related Experiment Videos
Passive smoking, potential atopy and asthma in the first five years
1Royal Naval Hospital, Haslar, Gosport, Hampshire.
Insights
Passive smoking is linked to more severe asthma in children. Reducing secondhand smoke exposure, especially around birth, may improve child health outcomes and reduce asthma severity.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Allergy and Immunology
- Environmental Health
- Respiratory Medicine
Background:
- Asthma is a common respiratory condition in children.
- Genetic and environmental factors contribute to asthma development and severity.
- Passive smoke exposure is a known environmental risk factor for respiratory illnesses.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the association between prolonged cigarette smoke exposure and asthma severity in young children.
- To identify risk factors associated with moderately severe asthma in children under five.
- To explore the role of passive smoking in the 'intrinsic' asthma group.
Main Methods:
- A study involving 86 children aged five and under with moderately severe asthma.
- Comparison with 1199 infants from a mixed population.
- Analysis of serum immunoglobulin E (IgE) levels and demographic data, including smoking exposure and family background.
Main Results:
- Children with normal serum IgE levels and asthma showed a higher prevalence of male sex, prolonged cigarette smoke exposure, Service family background, and fixed chest deformity compared to those with elevated IgE.
- Passive smoking may facilitate asthma expression in atopic children.
- Passive smoking appears to be a significant contributor to more severe 'intrinsic' asthma.
Conclusions:
- Prolonged exposure to secondhand smoke is associated with more severe asthma in young children, particularly those with normal IgE levels.
- Interventions to discourage smoking in families, especially during pregnancy and early childhood, are crucial.
- Reducing environmental tobacco smoke exposure can mitigate asthma severity and improve respiratory health in children.
Abstract:
Evidence of prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke was sought in a group of 86 children aged five years and under with moderately severe asthma, and in 1199 infants from a mixed background population of Armed Service and civilian families. Asthmatics with a normal serum IgE (less than +1 s.d. for age) made up almost half of the cases and, compared with those with an elevated serum IgE (+1 s.d. for age or more), a greater proportion were male, had experienced prolonged exposure to cigarette smoke, were from Service families and already had fixed chest deformity. It is suggested that, in addition to facilitating the expression of asthma in young potential atopics, passive smoking may be an important contributory cause of the more severe disease reported in the so-called 'intrinsic' group. Perhaps the burden of illness and the extent of exposure noted in this survey will prompt renewed efforts to be made to discourage smoking in families, particularly two years before and for at least five years after the birth of a child.