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Online Clinical Calculator |
Does secondary
smoke exposure increase the incidence and/or severity of
asthma in children?
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Pediatric asthma is a significant health problem in the United States. Up to
26,000 new asthma cases are identified every year. Seventeen percent of all
pediatric emergency department visits are attributable to asthma. There are
no universally agreed upon diagnostic criteria for asthma. Because no single
agent has been identified as causing asthma and because no pathologic
feature is entirely unique to asthma, the disease can more easily be
described than defined. Asthma is diagnosed clinically based upon recurrent
episodes of wheezing, breathlessness, chest tightness and coughing,
particularly at night in the absence of other causes. Asthma is considered a
chronic inflammatory disorder associated with airflow obstruction, which is
often reversible either spontaneously or with treatment. This inflammation
exacerbates bronchial hyper-responsiveness to a variety of environmental
stimuli including allergens and irritants. Due to inconsistency of
diagnostic criteria for asthma, it is easier to measure asthma severity or
to study events such as hospitalizations or deaths, rather than to measure
incidence. |
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Since a randomized controlled trial of the effect of cigarette exposure on
asthma would be unethical, we must rely on either randomized trials of
reduction of cigarette exposure or epidemiological studies to determine
associations between secondary exposure to cigarette smoke and asthma.
Reference:
J Okla
State Med Assoc. 2006 Feb;99(2):76-7 |
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