Cigarette smoke irritates the respiratory system and is especially bad for people with allergies. The smoke causes problems for kids and adults with allergies and asthma, producing severe symptoms and even necessitating medical treatment. The only way to stop these effects is to avoid exposure to environmental cigarette smoke if you have allergies or other respiratory conditions.
Effect on Kids
Kids develop reduced lung function when regularly exposed to tobacco smoke, the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America warns. The smoke triggers wheezing, coughing, excess mucus and fluid in the airways and lungs, even if the child does not have allergies. Kids who do have allergies are at six times higher risk for stubborn ear infections that require insertion of ear tubes when they are around cigarette smoke. These kids also experience the same respiratory symptoms as kids without allergies who get exposed to cigarette smoke.
Effect on Adults
Adults with allergies are more sensitive to cigarette smoke than those without allergies, and the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences warns that smoke sets off respiratory symptoms in susceptible people. Common reactions include nasal congestion, persistent cough, watery, burning eyes, wheezing and shortness of breath. Non-smoking adults who live with smokers are more likely to develop respiratory infections and asthma -- and those with allergies are more prone to related complications like bronchitis and sinusitis.
Research
Studies back up the connection between allergies and bad reactions to cigarette smoke. For example, a 2006 study by University of California researchers, published in the "Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology," showed that people with ragweed allergies have a worse reaction when exposed to both ragweed and secondhand tobacco smoke than when exposed to the plant alone.
Smoke Composition
Cigarette smoke triggers respiratory symptoms and worsens allergies and asthma because of its contents. Smoke generated by a burning cigarette or exhaled by a smoker contains about 4,000 chemicals, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America, including small amounts of toxins like DDT, formaldehyde, arsenic and cyanide. Several of those chemicals are known carcinogens, and many are respiratory irritants. Anyone who breathes in environmental cigarette smoke can have a reaction, and your risk is greater if you are an allergy or asthma sufferer.
Considerations
People with allergies should avoid cigarette smoke because of its ability to worsen their symptoms, the University of California researchers advise. This avoidance means staying in non-smoking sections in buildings and outdoor areas where smoking is allowed, not allowing smoking in households and not riding in cars or being in other enclosed areas with people smoking cigarettes.
