HHS HealthBeat (February 19, 2008)

Secondhand smoke and cystic fibrosis

From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Secondhand smoke can make lung disease worse, and Johns Hopkins researchers can document it in cases of cystic fibrosis. CF is fatal, and the researchers say many people with CF still wind up breathing other people’s smoke.

The researchers measured lung function by seeing how much air people could breathe out in the first second they tried.

The study found CF patients who were exposed to secondhand smoke had 10 percent less lung function. And some had it worse. Johns Hopkins researcher Garry Cutting:

``If they have a particular genetic abnormality, it doubles the negative effect of secondhand smoke. So they have a 20 percent reduction in lung function.’’ (8 seconds)

The study in the Journal of the American Medical Association was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at hhs.gov.

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: February, 19 2008