Childhood Exposure to Tobacco Smoke

Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health recently released a statement regarding tobacco smoke in the home and it's effect on children. Children who were exposed to tobacco smoke early in their life are more likely to get emphysema and their lungs at that age can't fully recover from the smoke inhalation. The study showed that the more cigarette smokers in the household, the more emphysema-like lung pixels appeared in the scan. An average of 20% scan pixels were emphysema like for those who lived with two or more smokers as a child, compared to 18% for those who lived with one regular smoker, and 17% for those who said that they did not live with a regular inside smoker as a child. Researchers are able to tell the difference between the lungs on the CT scans from being exposed to smoke as a child and those who were not exposed to smoke as a child. Air flow obstruction and anatomic damage to lungs from smoke inhalation as a child can not be reversed. Once they are exposed to it, their lungs become weaker and their chances of emphysema are higher. Although some effects of tobacco smoke are short term, through these studies we are also able to tell that they are long term as well. According to Gina Lovasi, assistant professor of epidemiology at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health, combined emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease are projected to be the third leading cause of death by 2020.