Asthma Healing

The first step in controlling asthma is reducing exposure to things that can trigger attacks. But a new report shows two of the biggest culprits are rarely removed from the homes of children with asthma.

The study, which appears in the July issue of The Journal of Pediatrics, found more than two-thirds of asthmatic children live with a furred or feathered pet. And more than a third live with a smoker. Pet dander and tobacco smoke are two of the most common contributors to severe asthma symptoms.

But researchers say they were surprised to find that households with pets differed greatly from those with smokers.

"Smoking was generally associated with poor, nonwhite and highly stressed families, whereas pet ownership was associated with white families with greater asthma knowledge, older children, and better family functioning," says study researcher Frederick Wamboldt, MD, head of the division of psychosocial medicine at National Jewish Medical and Research Center, in a news release.

Wamboldt says many doctors are under the mistaken impression that there are basically two types of asthma patients: good ones that take their medications and avoid all irritants, and bad ones who smoke, have pets, and don't take their medications. But in reality, the picture is much more complex than that.

"We believe doctors can more effectively counsel their asthma patients to remove asthma triggers from their homes if they take these differences into account," says Wamboldt.

For the study, researchers evaluated 152 children between the ages of 7 and 18 and interviewed their primary parent. They found a smoker lived in 38% of the homes, which is in line with estimates that show about 35% to 45% of American homes have at least one smoker.

Sixty-seven percent of the children lived with a furred or feathered pet at home, and that figure is even higher than the national average of 59%.

Interestingly, Wamboldt says the study also found that smoking and pet ownership did not necessarily affect how well the asthmatic children adhered to their medications.

In light of these findings, the researchers say doctors should talk frequently with the parents of young asthmatic patients about the risks smoking and pets pose to their child and discuss ways they can reduce exposure to these irritants.

For example, if the parent is unable or unwilling to quit smoking, he or she can reduce a child's exposure to smoke by smoking outside. And if the benefits of pet ownership outweigh the risks for the child, frequent bathing of the pet can help control exposure to pet dander.