Passive smoking may increase risk of asthma across generations - Video
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Overview
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
Speakers
Isra Zaman
B.Sc Life Sciences, M.Sc Biotechnology, B.Ed
Isra Zaman is a Life Science graduate from Daulat Ram College, Delhi University, and a postgraduate in Biotechnology from Amity University. She has a flair for writing, and her roles at Medicaldialogues include that of a Sr. content writer and a medical correspondent. Her news pieces cover recent discoveries and updates from the health and medicine sector. She can be reached at editorial@medicaldialogues.in.
Dr Kamal Kant Kohli-MBBS, DTCD- a chest specialist with more than 30 years of practice and a flair for writing clinical articles, Dr Kamal Kant Kohli joined Medical Dialogues as a Chief Editor of Medical News. Besides writing articles, as an editor, he proofreads and verifies all the medical content published on Medical Dialogues including those coming from journals, studies,medical conferences,guidelines etc. Email: drkohli@medicaldialogues.in. Contact no. 011-43720751