Smokers pass asthma risk to grandchildren

Wednesday September 30th, 2015

The risk of developing asthma may go back at least two generations, researchers report today.

The conclusion comes after a study linked women's smoking to increased asthma risk in their grandchildren.

Asthma rates have risen rapidly over the last 50 years, but the cause of this pattern is unclear. It is thought that environmental exposures are partly responsible, particularly as tobacco use has been shown to affect the activity of genes.

A team led by Dr Caroline Lodge of the University of Melbourne, Australia, investigated if these genetic changes can be passed to following generations. They used figures from the Swedish Registry from 1982 to 1986 including 44,853 women with grandchildren. The women's smoking exposure during pregnancy was recorded. The group went on to have 66,271 grandchildren, whose use of asthma medication was analysed.

This showed that smoking while pregnant was linked with a 10% to 22% raised risk of the grandchildren using asthma medication.

Details are presented today (30 September) at the European Respiratory Society International Congress.

Dr Lodge commented: "We found that smoking in previous generations can influence the risk of asthma in subsequent generations. This may also be important in the transmission of other exposures and diseases.

"Researchers in this area need to be aware, when interpreting the asthma risk from current exposures and genetic predisposition, that individuals may carry an inherited, non-genetic, risk from exposures in previous generation. This knowledge will help to clarify the findings concerning current risk factors in asthma research."

Co-author Professor Bertil Forsberg added: "The next stage for the research team is to investigate the potential inheritance of asthma risk through the male line, by assessing the risk of asthma in grandchildren whose grandmothers smoked whilst pregnant with their fathers. The findings also encourage research into inherited disease risks for other environmental exposures."

Abstract: Does grandmaternal smoking increase the risk of asthma in grandchildren? Presented on Wednesday 30 September 2015 at the European Respiratory Society International Congress held in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Tags: Allergies & Asthma | Childbirth and Pregnancy | Europe | Women's Health & Gynaecology

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