Infants exposed to cigarette smoke are more likely to develop allergic rhinitis
May 18, 2006 - 3:16:00 AM
, Reviewed by: Priya Saxena
|
|
âWe found that infants who were exposed to 20 or more cigarettes a day were three times more likely to develop allergic rhinitis by their first birthday than those who were not exposed."
|
By University of Cincinnati,
[RxPG] University of Cincinnati (UC) epidemiologists say itâs environmental tobacco smokeânot the suspected visible moldâthat drastically increases an infantâs risk for developing allergic rhinitis by age 1.
Commonly known as hay fever, allergic rhinitis occurs when a personâs immune system mistakenly reacts to allergens (aggravating particles) in the air. The body then releases substances to protect itself, causing the allergy sufferer to experience persistent sneezing and a runny, blocked nose.
This is the first study to show a relationship between environmental tobacco smoke exposure and allergic rhinitis in year-old infants, the UC team reports in the June issue of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and an early online edition May 17.
âPrevious studies have addressed risk factors for allergic rhinitis, but they failed to examine multiple environmental exposures, and some yielded contradictory results,â says Jocelyn Biagini, lead author and an epidemiologist in UCâs environmental health department.
The study evaluated the effects of numerous indoor exposures to such things as environmental tobacco smoke, visible mold, pets, siblings and the day-care environment on 633 infants under age one.
âWe found that infants who were exposed to 20 or more cigarettes a day were three times more likely to develop allergic rhinitis by their first birthday than those who were not exposed,â says Biagini.
These findings, she says, suggest that for the health of their children, itâs important for parents to eliminate tobacco smoke from their homes.
âAn infantâs lungs and immune system are still developing in the first year of life,â says Grace LeMasters, PhD, coauthor and principal investigator of the Cincinnati Childhood Allergy and Air Pollution Study (CCAAPS). âEnvironmental tobacco smoke puts harmful particulates in the air thatâwhen inhaled regularly at such an early ageâcould lead to serious allergic conditions like asthma.â
CCAAPS, funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, is a five-year study examining the effects of environmental particulates on childhood respiratory health and allergy development.
About 43 percent of children, says Dr. LeMasters, are exposed to home environmental tobacco smoke. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 21 percent of all American adults smoke cigarettes. Of them, 12 percent report smoking 25 or more cigarettes daily.
While household mold, long thought to be a major cause, did not contribute to allergic rhinitis development, Biagini says, it did increase the infantâs risk for ear infections.
Infants exposed to a mold patch about the size of a shoebox were five times more likely to contract ear infections requiring antibiotics than those living in mold-free homes, she explains.
The UC study also suggests that infants with older siblings are less likely to have allergic rhinitis.
âResearch has shown that exposure to certain infections early in life may decrease your risk for allergic diseases,â explains James Lockey, MD, professor of environmental health and pulmonary medicine. âWe found a âsibling protective effectâ for allergic rhinitisâthis may mean the more siblings infants have, the more infections they are exposed to. As a result, the infantâs body may be better equipped to fight off allergic diseases later in life.â
Publication:
The study appears in the June issue of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology and an early online edition May 17.
On the web:
http://www.uc.edu/news/ 
|
Advertise in this space for $10 per month.
Contact us today.
|
 |
|
Subscribe to Respiratory Medicine Newsletter
|
|
|
|
Additional information about the news article
|
Collaborators in the study were David Bernstein, MD, Gurjit Khurana Hershey, MD, PhD, Patrick Ryan, Linda Levin, PhD, Tiina Reponen, PhD, Jeff Burkle and Manuel Villareal, MD.
Ohioâs Governor Bob Taft recently proclaimed May Allergy and Asthma Awareness Month to encourage citizens to make their respiratory health a priority. According to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, more than 50 million Americans suffer from allergies, many of which are can be triggered by airborne environmental pollutants.
|
|
Feedback
|
For any corrections of factual information, to contact the editors or to send
any medical news or health news press releases, use
feedback form
|
Top of Page
|
