Finnish study indicates smoking increases risk of asthma
Smokers’ risk 33% higher than that of non-smokers
A fresh Finnish study indicates that smoking increases the risk of asthma. According to the study, smokers have a 33% higher risk of getting asthma than nonsmokers.
Women face a clearly greater risk of asthma than men do.
The study, by pulmonary specialist, Dr. Ritva Piipari, is to be published in the European Respiratory Journal today, Tuesday.
Piipari works at the Finnish Institute of Occupational Health.
Data for the two-year study was gathered in the Pirkanmaa health care district in 1998 - 2000. Included in the study were all of the area's new asthma patients aged 21-63 - a total of 518 individuals.
Excluded were all patients suffering from other pulmonary ailments, or whose asthma had been diagnosed earlier. A group of 930 people without asthma served as a control group.
"The study showed that smokers had a 33% higher risk of getting asthma, compared with non-smokers. The added risk was even greater - 49% - among those who had stopped smoking over a year ago", Piipari says.
There was a clear correlation between the increased risk of getting asthma, and both daily smoking and cumulative smoking over a person’s whole lifetime.
Piipari says that the increased risk experienced by those who have already stopped smoking can be explained by noting that the heightened risk of asthma remains for several years after a person has quit.
She nevertheless emphasises that it is always worthwhile to stop.
Somewhat counterintuitively, the study shows that smoking seemed to have a relatively small impact on the risk to get asthma among the heaviest smokers.
This group included those who smoked more than 15 cigarettes a day, or whose daily number of cigarettes multiplied by the number of years the person has smoked was 200 or more.
Piipari says that this suggests that there are individual differences among people in their ability to tolerate tobacco, but that they cannot be known in advance. Therefore, she says that it is always a risk to start smoking.
Women who smoked were found to be at greater risk of asthma than men. According to the study, the asthma risk for smoking women, and those who stopped over a year earlier was about 140% higher than for men.
Piipari notes that both the prevalence of asthma, and that of smoking by women and girls, are on the increase in many Western countries.
Women who do not smoke also have a higher risk of asthma than men do.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Social Services, Liisa Hyssälä (Centre), is wary about new graphic warning labels proposed for cigarette packages. Hyssälä says that the images of disease and death contained in a series of pictures which European Commissioner David Byrne proposes should be printed on cigarette packages are not compatible with the Finnish style of health education.
She added that although Finland would not introduce the images yet, the matter would probably be reconsidered if they become widespread in the rest of the EU, Finland would probably reconsider the matter.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 26.10.2004 - TODAY |
 Finnish study indicates smoking increases risk of asthma |
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