Smoke can have a profound effect on the lungs if you have allergies, even if you're not allergic to the smoke itself. If you have allergies to other substances, cigarette smoking can aggravate and worsen allergic reactions. Cigarette smoke can also increase the chance of developing other illnesses in allergic children. Allergies to inhaled substances such as smoke generally cause respiratory symptoms but can also have other effects.
Symptoms of Smoke Allergy
If you have a smoke allergy, you may experience chest tightness, wheezing, shortness of breath, runny nose or coughing after smoke exposure. You may have non-respiratory symptoms such as burning, red and itching, or swollen eyes. While you may associate cigarette smoke with smoke allergy, other types of smoke, including smoke from burning wood used in fireplaces, wood-burning stoves or forest fires, can also cause allergy.
Complications
Allergic bronchitis, a respiratory disorder, can occur as a reaction to any allergen. Allergic bronchitis can cause symptoms similar to asthma. This type of bronchitis does not cause an infection. If you have a severe reaction, you may struggle for breath, turn blue or lose consciousness from lack of oxygen. A reaction that causes airway swelling severe enough to make air exchange difficult or impossible constitutes a medical emergency. A shot of epinephrine can help reverse the inflammatory reaction causing airway closure. If you have severe smoke allergy, carry an epinephrine pen with you at all times and wear a medical alert bracelet.
Treatments
It's not always possible to avoid smoke in the air outside. If you have severe reactions to smoke, you may need to use an inhaled steroid or mast cell inhibitor to open up tight airway passages. Oral or injected corticosteroids to reduce swelling in the airways can also help. Leukotriene modifiers reduce mucus production and ease airway tightening. Work with your doctor to develop a program of treatment that helps prevent reactions so you don't need to treat them.
Considerations
Exposure to smoke can cause non-respiratory symptoms in allergic children, even if they don't have a smoke allergy. Children with allergies who also have exposure to environmental tobacco smoke have six times the risk of persistent ear infections that require tube placement, according to the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America. An interesting but potentially controversial study conducted by Dutch researchers and reported in the May 2009 issue of "Clinical and Experimental Allergy" found that cigarette smoke reduced activation of mast cells removed from mice and tested in the laboratory. Mast cells can cause allergic reactions. It's not known whether this same effect would occur in human cells.
References
- Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America; Tobacco Smoke; 2005
- Cleveland Clinic: Treating the Inflammation of Asthma
- gulfMD: Wood Burning Smoke
- "Clinical and Experimental Allergy"; Cigarette Smoke Suppresses In Vitro Allergic Activation of Mouse Mast Cells; E. Mortaz, et al.; May 2009
- National Institute of Environmental Health Services: Cigarette Smoke
