 |
|
Cigarette use may explain asthma epidemic in children, says Mailman School of Public Health study
May 22, 2007The rise in cigarette use by adults over the past century may explain the asthma epidemic in children according to a study by researchers at the Mailman School of Public Health. The study is published this month in Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).
The prevalence of asthma has increased at least threefold during the past several decades, but the cause for this remains unknown, according to author Renee D. Goodwin, PhD, MPH, assistant professor in the Department of Epidemiology at the Mailman School of Public Health. The increase is occurring most prominently in industrialized countries, but now developing countries are beginning to experience similar increases.
"We have identified parallel increases in childhood asthma and cigarette use among adults during the past century in the United States. These parallel trends suggest that the increase in cigarette use may be a contributing factor to the rise in asthma among children during the same period through increased exposure to environmental tobacco smoke," said Dr. Goodwin.
Approximately 4.8 million children under age 18 have asthma in the United States. Although treatment and asthma management strategies can help control symptoms, asthma is a chronic condition with no known cure. Asthma most frequently begins in childhood. The cause is unknown, but allergies are a factor in the majority of children with asthma.
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) inhaled unintentionally by nonsmokers has a higher concentration of some toxic substances than the smoke inhaled by smokers, such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Children breathe more air than adults and have narrower airways, so ETS is a greater causal risk factor of asthma in children. It can also increase the severity of their asthma symptoms.
Both genetic and environmental risk factors for asthma have been identified, noted Dr. Goodwin. Globally, six studies have shown environment tobacco smoke to be a risk factor of incident asthma. The risk for the development of childhood asthma was 2.5 times greater in young children with mothers who smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day indoors compared with mothers who smoke fewer cigarettes or not at all. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, especially in the home, increases a child's likelihood of developing asthma by 63 percent according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cigarette use, currently considered one of the most pressing public health problems worldwide, has become increasingly concentrated among economically and socially disadvantaged segments of the population, as well as among younger persons.
"Previous data that show more recent higher rates of cigarette smoking among lower socioeconomic status segments of the population within the United States are consistent with our theory, since these are the most vulnerable segments of the population among whom rates of childhood asthma are currently the most concentrated," she said.
"Although cigarette consumption has declined in some segments of the United States population since its peak around 1981, the consequences and health effects of the drastic increase in the mid-1980s are still affecting adults and children," Dr. Goodwin said.
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Approximately 4.8 million children under age 18 have asthma in the United States. Although treatment and asthma management strategies can help control symptoms, asthma is a chronic condition with no known cure. Asthma most frequently begins in childhood. The cause is unknown, but allergies are a factor in the majority of children with asthma.
Environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) inhaled unintentionally by nonsmokers has a higher concentration of some toxic substances than the smoke inhaled by smokers, such as carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. Children breathe more air than adults and have narrower airways, so ETS is a greater causal risk factor of asthma in children. It can also increase the severity of their asthma symptoms.
Both genetic and environmental risk factors for asthma have been identified, noted Dr. Goodwin. Globally, six studies have shown environment tobacco smoke to be a risk factor of incident asthma. The risk for the development of childhood asthma was 2.5 times greater in young children with mothers who smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day indoors compared with mothers who smoke fewer cigarettes or not at all. Exposure to environmental tobacco smoke, especially in the home, increases a child's likelihood of developing asthma by 63 percent according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Cigarette use, currently considered one of the most pressing public health problems worldwide, has become increasingly concentrated among economically and socially disadvantaged segments of the population, as well as among younger persons.
"Previous data that show more recent higher rates of cigarette smoking among lower socioeconomic status segments of the population within the United States are consistent with our theory, since these are the most vulnerable segments of the population among whom rates of childhood asthma are currently the most concentrated," she said.
"Although cigarette consumption has declined in some segments of the United States population since its peak around 1981, the consequences and health effects of the drastic increase in the mid-1980s are still affecting adults and children," Dr. Goodwin said.
Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health
Cigarettes Current Events and Cigarettes News RSSMentally ill smoke at 4 times the rate of general population, says University of Melbourne study
Australians with mental illness smoke at four times the rate of the general population, says a new study from the University of Melbourne.
Smoking increases depression in women, study reveals
Researchers from the University of Melbourne and Barwon Health assessed a group of 1043 Australian women, whose health had been monitored for a decade as part of the Geelong Osteoporosis Study.
Parental warning: second-hand smoke may trigger nicotine dependence symptoms in kids
Parents who smoke cigarettes around their kids in cars and homes beware -- second-hand smoke may trigger symptoms of nicotine dependence in children.
Do 'light' cigarettes deliver less nicotine to the brain than regular cigarettes?
For decades now, cigarette makers have marketed so-called light cigarettes - which contain less nicotine than regular smokes - with the implication that they are less harmful to smokers' health. A new UCLA study shows, however, that they deliver nearly as much nicotine to the brain.
Creating lung cancer risk models for specific populations refines prediction
Lung cancer risk prediction models are enhanced by taking into account risk factors by race and by measuring DNA repair capacity, according to research teams led by epidemiologists at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in two complementary papers appearing in the September issue of Cancer Prevention Research.
K-State professor's research suggests that cigarettes' power may not be in nicotine itself
There may be a very good reason why coffee and cigarettes often seem to go hand in hand.
Smoking during pregnancy a 'double-edged sword' in SIDS
Premature infants whose mothers smoked during pregnancy may be at even higher risk for sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) than preemies whose mothers did not smoke, according to new research out of the University of Calgary.
Newly-defined factors may prevent postpartum smoking relapse
Although many women quit smoking during pregnancy to protect their unborn children from the effects of cigarettes, half of them resume the habit within a few months of giving birth.
U of M scholar and colleagues link tobacco industry's marketing to youth smoking
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) released a report today, co-edited by University of Minnesota professor Barbara Loken, that reaches the government's strongest conclusion to date that tobacco marketing and depictions of smoking in movies promote youth smoking.
Study examines association of smoking with hemorrhage after throat surgery
Smoking appears to be associated with an increased rate of hemorrhage (bleeding) in patients who undergo uvulopalatopharyngoplasty (UPPP, a surgical procedure used to remove excess tissue from the throat) with tonsillectomy (a surgical procedure in which the tonsils are removed), but not in those who undergo tonsillectomy alone.
More Cigarettes Current Events and Cigarettes News Articles
 | The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America by Allan M. Brandt The invention of mass marketing led to cigarettes being emblazoned in advertising and film, deeply tied to modern notions of glamour and sex appeal. It is hard to find a photo of Humphrey Bogart or Lauren Bacall without a cigarette. No product has been so heavily promoted or has become so deeply entrenched in American consciousness.And no product has received such sustained scientific scrutiny.... |
 | Cigarettes, Cigarettes: The Dirty Rotten Truth About Tobacco (The Dirty Rotten Truth Series) by Pete Traynor This landmark book tells a cautionary story for children that casts cigarette smoking in a most unfavorable light. the tale follows an afternoon adventure of four children one of whom who is a smoker. the book also features an expose of the tobacco industry and its practice of marketing cigarettes to children facts about health and smoking and an interactive question and answer section for... |
 | Soap, Sex, and Cigarettes: A Cultural History of American Advertising by Juliann Sivulka This book is an examination of how American advertising both mirrors society and creates it. From the first newspaper advertisement in colonial times to the latest Web sites for advertising agencies, Soap, Sex and Cigarettes explores how advertising grew in America, how products and brands were produced and promoted, and how advertisements and agencies reflect and introduce cultural trends and... |
 | Cigarettes Are Sublime by Richard Klein, Richard Klein Cigarettes are bad for you; that is why they are so good. With its origins in the author’s urgent desire to stop smoking, Cigarettes Are Sublime offers a provocative look at the literary, philosophical, and cultural history of smoking. Richard Klein focuses on the dark beauty, negative pleasures, and exacting benefits attached to tobacco use and to cigarettes in particular. His appreciation of... |
 | The Little Girl and The Cigarette by Benoit Duteurtre "Not only are we no longer capable of seeing the tragedies that have befallen us, we are incapable even of registering our own incapacity to do so . . . [but] Duteurtre sees, and records all that he sees."-Milan Kundera "A joy to read, as much as it is alarming."-Le Monde In the over-legislated world of this outrageous comedy, a death row inmate becomes a darling... |
 | Cigarettes (American Literature (Dalkey Archive)) by Harry Mathews Fiction. Available again, along with TLOOTH, as part of Dalkey Archive's American Literature Series, CIGARETTES has been called "A brilliant and unsettling book ..." -- Tom Clark, Los Angeles Times Book Review. It is a novel about the rich and powerful, tracing their complicated relationships from the 1930s to the 1960s, from New York City to Upper New York State. "CIGARETTES has the... |
 | The Big Book Of Cigarette Lighters: Identification & Values by James Flanagan Cigarette lighter collectors, here it is! The Big Book of Cigarette Lighters is the reference that you have been waiting for. This all-new hardcover, full-color book contains hundreds of new photos not included in the Collector's Guide to Cigarette Lighters, Volumes I and II, all with full descriptions and values. There are numerous chapters detailing many timeless classics from a variety of... |
 | The Minotaur Takes a Cigarette Break: A Novel by Steven Sherrill Five thousand years out of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur finds himself in the American South, living in a trailer park and working as a line cook at a steakhouse. No longer a devourer of human flesh, the Minotaur is a socially inept, lonely creature with very human needs. But over a two-week period, as his life dissolves into chaos, this broken and alienated immortal awakens to the possibility for... |
 | The Golden Age of Cigarette Lighters (Schiffer Book for Collectors) by Ira Pilossof, Stuart Schneider Here is what could be the largest collection of vintage cigarette lighters ever assembled. It is a fascinating chronicle of cigarette lighters' Golden Age. This era begins with the primitive lighters made at the turn of the 20th century and continues through to the contemporary Scripto Vu-Lighters of the 1960s. These popular personal accessories were made by the most widely known and respected... |
 | Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes by Martha Long A heart-rending memoir of a deprived childhood in 1950s and '60s Dublin that will both horrify and... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |