Passive smoking may increase risk of asthma across generations
Written By : Isra Zaman
Medically Reviewed By : Dr. Kamal Kant Kohli
Published On 2022-09-19 03:30 GMT | Update On 2022-09-19 10:08 GMT
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Children are more likely to develop asthma if their father was exposed to second-hand smoke when he was a child, according to a study published in the European Respiratory Journal. The study also shows that children's risk of asthma is even higher if their father was exposed to second-hand smoke and went on to become a smoker.
The researchers say their findings highlight how smoking can damage health not only for smokers and their children, but also their grandchildren.
The research was led by Mr Jiacheng Liu and Dr Dinh Bui from the University of Melbourne, Australia. It was based on data from the Tasmanian Longitudinal Health Study (TAHS), led by Professor Shyamali Dharmage. TAHS began in 1968 and is one of the world's largest and longest ongoing respiratory studies.
For this study, researchers looked at 1,689 children who grew up in Tasmania, their fathers and their paternal grandparents. They compared data on whether the children had developed asthma by the age of seven years with data on whether the fathers grew up with parents who smoked when they were under the age of 15. They also included data on whether the fathers were current or former smokers.
Reference:
Mr Jiacheng Liu et al, Pre-pubertal smoke exposure of fathers and increased risk of offspring asthma: a possible transgenerational effect, European Respiratory Journal,DOI 10.1183/13993003.00257-2022
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