Father's smoking before conception linked to nonallergic asthma in children

Smoking behaviors of fathers before conception were linked to nonallergic asthma in children, according to research presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Munich.

“This study is important as it is the first study looking at how a father’s smoking habit preconception can affect the respiratory health of his children,” researcher Cecilie Svanes, MD, of the University of Bergen, Norway, said in a press release.

Svanes and colleagues used a questionnaire to evaluate the smoking habits of 13,499 men and women as well as the year of birth, asthma and hay fever in 26,945 offspring aged 2 to 51 years. Adjustments were made for parents’ age, sex and early-onset asthma and the study center where evaluation was conducted.

Allergic asthma with hay fever was observed in 3.6% of the offspring, while nonallergic asthma without hay fever was present in 7.5%.

“Compared to offspring with a never-smoking parent, nonallergic (but not allergic) asthma was significantly more common in those with a father who smoked only prior to conception (OR=1.58; 1.15-2.17),” the researchers wrote.

There was no observable link between mother’s preconception smoking and an effect on nonallergic asthma (OR=1.05; 0.79-1.4). If the father began smoking before age 15 years, nonallergic asthma was more common (OR=2.81; 1.02-7.76), which also increased with duration of smoking (OR=1.12; 0.99-1.27 per 2 years), even if the father quit smoking at least 5 years before conception.

“Given these results, we can presume that exposure to any type of air pollution, from occupational exposures to chemical exposures, could also have an effect,” Svanes concluded. “It is important for policymakers to focus on interventions targeting young men and warning them of the dangers of smoking and other exposures to their unborn children in the future.”

For more information:

Svanes C. #700288. Presented at: European Respiratory Society 2014 International Congress; Sept. 6-10; Munich.

Disclosure: Svanes did not report any relevant financial disclosures.