Did you know that 7 million American children have asthma? It is also the third-leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15, as well as a leading cause of school absences.

Before reading the new research below, you might want to check out some valuable, reader-friendly information about the disease by clicking here.

This week we bring our readers some no-nonsense, common sense research concerning asthma, children and second hand tobacco smoke. A recent study has revealed that over fifty per cent of the children with asthma are also exposed to second hand smoke.

To prove this premise, Dr. Lara Akinbami MD and her team CDC team in Atlanta, utilized interview and laboratory data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys from 2003 through 2010. Their sample included 972 children, 6-19 years of age, all of whom had been diagnosed with asthma. They found that 53 per cent of those children had also been exposed to second hand smoke.

Research revealed that asthmatic children with exposure to second hand tobacco smoke have three things in common:

1.  Smoke-exposed children had a 20% increased risk of more doctor visits.

2.  They manifested 40% more incidences of disturbed sleep.

3.  Exposure was associated with a 40% increase in the risk of having limitations placed on children’s physical activity.

The risk factors for asthma in children, Dr. Akinbami said, appear to “align with the risk factors for exposure to second-hand smoke.” Risk factors like poverty and apartment living often block parents’ best efforts at protection. Discover more details at this source.

“The findings are not surprising,” commented Jonathan Winickoff, MD, of Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, who reviewed the research. “There’s a long history of noticing an association between tobacco smoke exposure and both incidence and severity of childhood asthma.”  The Florida Lung Doctors think it is a good idea to make your home a no second-hand smoke zone!

It might seem very simple advice for parents of asthmatic children to avoid second hand smoke, but the researchers proclaimed that “it’s not a simple change to make.” He added that parents “may not know how to protect their child from tobacco smoke exposure.” Dr. Winickoff says tobacco smoke is a persistent irritant, and it “sticks” to everything in the environment long after a cigarette is extinguished.

As with many such studies, the Akinbami statistics will require more research, but it seems to be conclusive that if your child has asthma, you can not smoke. We invite you to read another informative article about asthma from the Florida Lung, Asthma, and Sleep Specialists by clicking here.

We leave you with one last, very special source:  If you child does have asthma, we suggest you take him or her on the internet, to an article from the American Lung Institute. It shares kid-friendly information about managing his or her disease. We believe the creative “Lungtropolis” game will delight children of all ages.

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