Study: Smoke-free law in U.K. leads to drop in hospital admissions among asthmatic children

It's commonly known that tobacco smoke can exacerbate asthma symptoms, but a new study conducted at Imperial College London shows just how big of an impact reduced exposure to this irritant can have on children who suffer from the chronic respiratory disease.

According to the Imperial College London website, researchers found that the number of children in the United Kingdom who were admitted to the hospital for asthma-related symptoms dropped 12.3 percent in the year following the inception of a 2007 law that banned smoking in enclosed public places. Before the legislation went into effect, hospital visits for asthmatic children had been consistently rising each year. 

Based on this data, researchers concluded that there was a notable link between the reduced exposure to tobacco smoke and the volume of asthma attacks among children.

"Previous studies have also suggested that the smoke-free law changed people's attitudes about exposing others to second-hand smoke and led more people to abstain from smoking voluntarily at home and in cars," Dr Christopher Millett, who led the study, said in the report. "We think that exposing children to less second-hand smoke in these settings probably played an important role in reducing asthma attacks. The findings are good news for England, and they should encourage countries where public smoking is permitted to consider introducing similar legislation."

If your child suffers from asthma, it's important to do everything you can to ensure that they avoid certain triggers. One of the ways you can do this is by investing in asthma and allergy control products, such as an allergen air purifier and bedding for allergies. Check out the Allergy Be Gone website today to learn more.