In Reply.—
We thank Dr Berkowitz for his thoughtful response to our paper in the March 1985 issue of Pediatrics. Our study was not designed to address the problem of smoking effect on asthma.
However, a number of investigations have shown that atopic individuals may develop wheezing after exposure to tobacco smoke.1-4 Moreover, several studies have demonstrated that cigarette smoke can cause bronchoconstriction and associated decrease in lung function.5-7 These studies support the clinical impression of Dr Berkowitz that children with asthma will "have less problems if their parents stop or decrease their amount of cigarette smoking."
Systemic inflammation and lung function in young adults