Second Hand Smoke and Early Onset Asthma

Oct. 17, 2008 - PRLog -- A recent study found in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that second hand smoke increases the risk of early onset asthma, a condition that appears at age 4 years old or under. Researchers believe that this information supports the idea that asthma is not a “uniform” disease, and instead several problems that end up with the same type of   symptoms. It also supports the fact that it's not just genes that cause asthma, and it's not just the environment, but the interaction between the two.

In the study experts state , “that those kids exposed to secondhand smoke had much more of a flowering of the disease process than those who weren't. That illustrates that while something can be genetically determined, it can be amplified by environmental factors."

Smoke is an asthma trigger, and so therefore, if you know that your child has asthma or if you yourself have asthma or related symptoms, the best solution would be to not smoke at all. If you do not have asthma but people in your family do, such as small children or even other adults, there are ways to control these asthma triggers to a certain extent without quitting.

Because we see that second hand smoke is an important factor in early onset asthma and in asthma in general, on solution would be smoke out doors, away from anyone who has the disease. In doing this we prevent the individual with asthma from being effected directly by the second hand smoke. However, we must remember that cigarette smoke seeps into our clothing. And so, even when we are not smoking, and are around those who have asthma, we may be effecting them.

A thrifty and effective solution for this problem is to use a detergent that eliminates allergens. One that I recommend is The Ecology Works Anti Allergen Laundry Detergent, this product specifically eliminates smoke allergens along with other allergens that trigger asthma attacks.

As we all know though, as difficult as it might be, not smoking at all is the best solution for our health and for the health of those who are around us. Smoking causes far more health problems than just asthma. So, if you have the will power, as I’m sure most of you do, do everyone including yourself the favor of not smoking.

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The Ecology Works is dedicated to producing a range of environmentally friendly products to help alleviate allergy symptoms and create healthy environments.