Asthma and smoking
Smoking and asthma do not combine well. Tobacco smoke harms the airways of both smokers and those who are exposed to environmental tobacco smoke — this can result in:
- an increased likelihood of developing asthma; and
- in people who already have asthma, worsening of asthma symptoms and an increase in the number of asthma attacks.
If you already have asthma, smoking increases the risk that you will permanently damage your lungs. You’ll also find that daily control of your asthma can become difficult — preventer inhalers are less effective in people who smoke than in non-smokers. Smoking also makes you more prone to chest infections, which are likely to worsen your asthma symptoms.
While the relationship between asthma and smoking can be considered complex — not everyone who is exposed to tobacco smoke will develop asthma — the potential of tobacco smoke to provoke asthma or trigger (precipitate or worsen) existing asthma symptoms is well established. Tobacco smoke is one of the most common asthma triggers in adults, and recent evidence suggests that smoking may also be a cause of adult-onset asthma (asthma that starts in adulthood).
Smoking around children
Smoking around children can result in them developing asthma and other respiratory illnesses and is particularly dangerous because children’s immune systems are less developed and their airways smaller than those of adults. Children breathe more rapidly than adults, which means that they will breathe in proportionally more harmful tobacco-smoke chemicals than would an adult who is exposed to the same amount of tobacco smoke.
Parents who smoke increase the likelihood that their children will develop asthma. And children already diagnosed with asthma whose parents smoke are more likely to have severe asthma symptoms compared to children with asthma whose parents do not smoke.
Smoking during pregnancy
When a woman smokes during pregnancy she increases the risk that her child will develop asthma (as well as other respiratory illnesses such as coughing and wheezing), and will be more prone to respiratory infection, which is a known trigger for asthma. Smoking during pregnancy is believed to result in these outcomes by affecting the normal development of the baby’s lung tissue while in the womb.
How to be smoke free
To avoid the negative impact that smoking can have on existing asthma and on the chances of asthma developing (both in the person who is smoking and in those exposed to tobacco smoke), you need to aim to be smoke free, that is, to avoid exposure to tobacco smoke.
If you do not smoke:
- do not allow smoking in your home or in your family car;
- ask people not to smoke near your children or near your baby;
- direct visitors who want to smoke to the ashtray you have placed outside for their use;
- avoid being in smoky environments; and
- encourage your partner not to smoke, particularly if you are pregnant.
If you are a smoker:
- seek advice, support and information about quitting. Quitting smoking is not an easy process, so the more information and support you have the more likely you will be to succeed. Realise that it may take several attempts to quit for the long-term, so keep trying. Ask your doctor or pharmacist about support groups and support phone lines. You may also want to ask about nicotine replacement aids, or prescription medicines (e.g. Champix and Zyban) that can reduce cravings and other withdrawal symptoms. Prescription medicines to help you quit smoking and nicotine replacement therapy cannot be used during pregnancy;
- in the meantime, smoke outside and not indoors near children or other people, and don’t smoke in the family car;
- quit smoking if you are pregnant or, better still, when you are planning a pregnancy; and
- do not smoke near someone who is pregnant, near babies or near children.
Last Reviewed: 10 January 2008
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