Increased asthma risk for babies whose father smokes before conception
... For this latest study, led by Dr. Cecile Svanes from the University of Bergen in Norway, the researchers used a questionnaire to assess the smoking habits of over 13,000 men and women. They then focused on the number of years an individual had smoked before conception, the incidence of asthma in their children and whether the parent had quit before the baby was conceived.
The study found that fathers - but not mothers - smoking prior to conception predicted non-allergic asthma (without hayfever) in children. Additionally, a child's risk of asthma increased if his or her father smoked before the age of 15, and this risk increased the longer the father's duration of smoking.
"This suggests a clinically important role of smoking on spermatogenesis with consequences for asthma development," write the researchers, "with potentially large impact on public health policies." ...
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/282197.php