Does secondary smoke exposure increase the incidence and/or severity of asthma in children?
Pediatric asthma is a significant health problem in the United States. Up to 26,000 new asthma cases are identified every year. Seventeen percent of all pediatric emergency department visits are attributable to asthma. There are no universally agreed upon diagnostic criteria for asthma. Because no single agent has been identified as causing asthma and because no pathologic feature is entirely unique to asthma, the disease can more easily be described than defined. Asthma is diagnosed clinically based upon recurrent episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing, particularly at night in the absence of other causes. Asthma is considered a chronic inflammatory disorder associated with airflow obstruction, which is often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment. This inflammation exacerbates bronchial hyper-responsiveness to a variety of environmental stimuli including allergens and irritants. Due to inconsistency of diagnostic criteria for asthma, it is easier to measure asthma severity or to study events such as hospitalizations or deaths, rather than to measure incidence. Since a randomized controlled trial of the effect of cigarette exposure on asthma would be unethical, we must rely on either randomized trials of reduction of cigarette exposure or epidemiological studies to determine associations between secondary exposure to cigarette smoke and asthma.
Arshad
Mohsin
M
Southeast Area Health Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73104, USA.
Hamm
Robert M
RM
Mold
James W
JW
D000293:Adolescent; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000009:adverse effects*; D001249:Asthma / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D006801:Humans; D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution / Q000009:adverse effects*
D014028:Tobacco Smoke Pollution