20 years after the entry into force of the Sirchia law which, to protect non-smokers, forbade smoking in closed public places, the balance of the experts of the Italian Society of Allergology, Asmology and Clinical Immunology (SIAAIC), is positive: they have decreased by 10/15% access to the emergency room and hospitalizations of asthmatic patients, even among the youngest. “Asthma is a chronic disease of the airways of an inflammatory nature, which affects a large part of the population. If a person does not have pathogenic characteristics, passive smoking cannot cause it. But people who suffer from bronchial asthma are negatively affected of the effects of both active and passive smoking, due to the powerful inflammatory action and the lower efficacy of the pharmacological treatment” underlines Mario Di Gioacchino, president of SIAAIC.
The disease therefore tends to have a worse course and to flare up more frequently. “Passive smoking in childhood is a factor that favors the onset of asthma in children and increases the possibility that they may become asthmatic over time – adds Gianenrico Senna, professor of respiratory diseases at the University of Verona and Director of the Asma Center of the University Hospital – Furthermore, exposure to secondhand smoke in the pre- and post-natal age increases the risk of the onset of asthma from 21 to 85%”.
“The progress we have made in the last 20 years (deadline is January 16th) in clearing the air of cigarette smoke represents one of the most important public health achievements. But smoking in asthmatic patients remains still very high and the frequency of the disease is also linked to the increase in pollen load and smog – underline the SIAAIC experts – Many more efforts are still needed to protect people who are exposed to secondhand smoke at home. “aerosols of electronic cigarettes and heated tobacco devices. There are studies that indicate the presence of potentially harmful substances in these vapors, whose effects on respiratory health are unclear and practically unknown in the long term”, conclude the experts.
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