Second-Hand Smoke Increases Bronchial Hyperreactivity and Eosinophilia in a Murine Model of Allergic Aspergillosis

Involuntary inhalation of tobacco smoke has been shown to aggravate the allergic response. Antibodies to fungal antigens such as Aspergillus fumigatus (Af) cause an allergic lung disease in humans. This study was carried out to determine the effect of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) on a murine model of allergic bronchopulmonary aspergillosis (ABPA). BALB/c mice were exposed to aged and diluted sidestream cigarette smoke to simulate 'second-hand smoke'. The concentration was consistent with that achieved in enclosed public areas or households where multiple people smoke. During exposure, mice were sensitized to Af antigen intranasally. Mice that were sensitized to Af antigen and exposed to ETS developed significantly greater airway hyperreactivity than did mice similarly sensitized to Af but housed in ambient air. The effective concentration of aerosolized acetylcholine needed to double pulmonary flow resistance was significantly lower in Af + ETS mice compared to the Af + AIR mice. Immunological data that supports this exacerbation of airway hyperresponsiveness being mediated by an enhanced type 1 hypersensitivity response include: eosinophilia in peripheral blood and lung sections. All Af sensitized mice produced elevated levels of IL4, IL5 and IL10 but no IFN-γ indicating a polarized Th2 response. Thus, ETS can cause exacerbation of asthma in ABPA as demonstrated by functional airway hyperresponsiveness and elevated levels of blood eosinophilia

The effects of passive smoking on respiratory illness in early childhood in Shanghai, P.R.China

The effects of household exposure to cigarette smoke on the incidence of respiratory illness were examined among 1007 18 month old children at Lu-wan District, Shanghai City, People's Republic China. The passive smoking quantity was estimated by summing the total daily cigarette consumption of family members. No mothers who smoked were found. A significant dose-response relationship of passive smoking to hospitalization for respiratory illness during the children's first 18 months of life was found, for which no confounding factors were discovered. The relative risk was 2.4 for children living in families including people who smoked 20 or more cigarettes a day compared with those living in nonsmoking families. The children who were boys or artificially (bottle) fed were more affected than those who were girls or breast fed. The cumulative incidence of bronchitis and pneumonia increased significantly with increasing cigarette smoking of family members, that did not change when sex, birth weight, type of feeding, coal for cooking, or parental education were taken into account. Family smoking status was not found to be significantly associated with the cumulative incidence of asthma, whooping cough, sinusitis or measles

Correlates of In-home Smoking Behavior of Parents with Newborns

Secondhand smoke has been shown to have adverse health effects on young children. It is associated with various health effects such as respiratory infections, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), and asthma. Because of the dangers secondhand smoke poses to young children, there is a need for educating parents about the dangers of secondhand smoke as well as determining factors associated with secondhand smoke exposure among children. Understanding these factors may be first step toward developing strategies to reduce ETS exposure. The study examined correlates of in-home smoking behavior of parents with newborns by analyzing 657 respondents who filled out the New Mom Secondhand Smoke Survey collected at the Riverside County Tobacco Free Families Program. These surveys were collected as a part of referral process to recruit eligible clients for the Tobacco Free Families Program. The survey contained 14 questions asking for demographic and secondhand smoke information on mothers who delivered a baby at five collaborating hospitals. Only 9.7% of all respondents reported someone smoking in their house. Smoking inside the house was significantly associated with having both mother and father as smokers as compared to having fathers as sole smokers (odds ratio: 4.16; 95% Cl: 1.34- 12.88). Mothers who believed that secondhand smoke was very dangerous for their baby’s health were less likely to report that someone smoked inside the house as compared to those who believed it was somewhat or not very dangerous, (odds ratio: .163; 95% Cl: .048-.551). Hispanic ethnicity had a weak negative association with smoking inside the house (odds ratio: .473; 95% Cl: 0.22, 1.02). The results of the study indicate that it may be important to target households where both mother and father smoke and educate them on the dangers of secondhand smoke. Furthermore, when attempting to educate young couples with newborns to reduce or eliminate secondhand smoke exposure, it may be important to incorporate a message on the negative health consequences of secondhand smoke on their baby

Health benefits of smoking cessation : a report of the Surgeon General

More than 38 million Americans have quit smoking cigarettes, and nearIy half of all living adults who ever smoked have quit. Unfortunately, some 5O million Americans continue to smoke cigarettes. despite the many health education programs and anti- smoking campaigns that have been conducted during the past quarter century, despite the declining social acceptability of smoking, and despite the consequences of smoking to their health.Twenty previous reports of the Surgeon General have reviewed the health effects of smoking. Scientific data are now available on the consequences of smoking cessation for most smoking-related diseases. Previous reports have considered some of these data, but this Report is the first to provide a comprehensive and unified review of this topic.Suggested citation: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Health benefits of smoking cessation.~. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Public Health Service. Centers for Disease Control. Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Office on Smoking and Health. DHHS Publication No. (CDC) 90-8416. 1990.1990714

The contradictions of economic growth: Environmental pollution, ill-health and economic development in Houston, Texas.

The core theme of this thesis is the potential contradiction between the objective of economic growth in terms of the sustenance of the natural environment and human health. The basic research theme is the identification of the underlying political and economic processes that relate to rising air pollution and corresponding ill-health in cities. It explores the relationship between air pollution and child ill-health in Houston, a highly developed US city. The analysis points out that since the early 1900s, there has been rampant unregulated economic growth in Houston and that weak environmental protection has contributed to both past and current concentrations of industrial pollution, the net result of which is that the environment is severely damaged and human health is deleteriously affected. The thesis indicates theoretical and epistemological limitations in emerging interpretations and highlights that air pollution and ill-health are not simply physical or social problems but they reflect the integration of biological mechanisms and political and economic priorities. This thesis reconceptualizes the connection between the economy and the environment, integrates abstract and empirical investigation, defines the structural character of spatial relations, combines global economic processes with local patterns of environmental degradation, and links historical growth to ecological and health changes. The field-work consisted of a large comparative household survey to examine local air pollution and child ill-health. It was informed by investigations of institutions and documents and complemented by semi-structured interviews. Clusters of child ill-health were found in low-and high-income households in areas near petrochemicals. While it is clear that the socio-economic circumstances of each household influenced the state of child health, this study demonstrates that spatial relations also played a significant role in the relationship. The procedures and analyses are conceptualized through a critical realist methodology, contextualized in a political-economy approach and framed within a theoretical perspective of historical social relations