Medpedia

The nation's first scientific study on the effects of wood smoke in smokers shows that wood smoke is associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and has identified a link that increases the risk for reduced lung function in cigarette smokers. That exposure to wood smoke causes COPD was previously found to be common in women in developing countries, but has not been recognized as being a hazard at concentrations generally found in developed countries.

The objective was to evaluate the risk of wood smoke for COPD in a population of smokers in the United States, and whether non-hereditary changes of DNA that were detected in sputum samples of these patients were correlated to the disease of COPD as shown by the destruction of lung function. The association between wood smoke and reduced lung function was stronger among current cigarette smokers, non-Hispanic whites and men.

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