Why do you think smokers have more trouble breathing or are often short of breath?
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Could smokers and asthmatics be given the same treatment to help them breathe?
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Partner:
Self:
Sitting
Standing
Immediately after 1 lap of the
primary school oval
What do you notice about the link between the number of breaths and the
conditions?
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How can you explain this observation?
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HEALTH
28 March 2014 Last updated at 01:24 GMT
benefits for perinatal and child health, and provides strong support for WHO
recommendations to create smoke-free public environments on a national level."
The study also found a 5% decline in children being born very small for their age after the
introduction of smoke-free laws. Co-author Professor Aziz Sheikh, of Brigham and
Women's Hospital, in Boston, Massachusetts, and the University of Edinburgh, said there
was potential to improve the health of more children.
"The many countries that are yet to enforce smoke-free legislation should in the light of
these findings reconsider their positions on this important health policy question."
Previous research suggests that 40% of children worldwide are regularly exposed to
second-hand smoke, which has been shown to be a cause of respiratory disease and a
trigger for asthma attacks in children. Recent European research also showed that passive
smoking causes thickening of children's arteries, which can increase the risk of heart
attacks and strokes in later life.
Experts say children are particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of second-hand
smoke because their lungs and immune systems are still developing.
At present, 16% of the world's population is covered by smoke-free laws. Scotland
introduced a ban on smoking in enclosed public places in 2006, and England in 2007.
Commenting on the study, Professor Ronnie Lamont from the Royal College of
Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said the study provided further evidence that smoking
bans had substantial health benefits for adults and children.
"Smoking during pregnancy has been shown to have adverse effects on foetal
development and pregnant women need to be informed of the risks and should be offered
advice and support to help them give up. "It is important that healthcare professionals
encourage women to lead a healthy lifestyle." The Royal College of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists said it supported recommendations for further implementation of smoke
free environments.
'Gross overreaction'
A Department of Health spokesman said it wanted to build on the smoking ban by making
it illegal for adults to buy cigarettes for children and to smoke in cars carrying children.
"We are also stopping tobacco being sold from vending machines and increasing the tax
on tobacco and banning displays," it said.
But Simon Clark, director of the smokers' group Forest, said children tended to be exposed
to second-hand smoke in the home, "so workplace smoking bans would have little or no
impact on children". "If the report is suggesting that environmental tobacco smoke is the
only or principal cause of childhood asthma, that's ridiculous," he said.
"In the UK the number of people suffering from asthma has tripled in the last 40 years.
During that same period the number of people who smoke has halved and today relatively
few children are exposed to tobacco smoke in confined spaces such as homes and cars."
Mr Clark added that calling for more countries to introduce comprehensive smoke-free
legislation was "a gross overreaction.
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