Smoking mothers double the chances of Asthma in their kids

The chances of a child having asthma rise by 2.1 to 2.7 times when the mother is a smoker and rise by 1.2-1.9 times when the father is a smoker, a new research has found.In the study published in the current issue of Journal of Asthma, Dr Bharat Bhushan Sharma, Associate Professor, SMS Hospital, and author of the article today said that the risk of asthma increases with passive smoking."The chances of having asthma increases by 2.1 to 2. 7 times when mother of the children was a smoker.However risk for getting asthma rises by 1.2-1.9 times when the child's father was a smoker," he said and termed it as an alarming finding.The lead author, Dr Sheetu Singh, Assistant Professor, Institute of Respiratory Diseases, described that pollution and passive smoking cause asthma and the risk of developing the condition increases when traffic pollution level near the house is high.She said that when heavy vehicles passed by frequently or whole day on the road near the residence, the risk of getting asthma increased from 1.2 to 1.7 times.