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Smoking increases asthma risk in rhinitis sufferers 

MedWire News: Cigarette smoking is an important independent risk factor for the development of new asthma cases in adults with allergic rhinitis, researchers report.

Writing in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Riccardo Polosa (University of Catania, Italy) and colleagues argue that this means "physicians have the responsibility to alert their patients with allergic rhinitis about the additional risk of asthma if they smoked and to engage in smoking cessation interventions."

Cigarette smoking has been reported to be associated with symptoms of chronic rhinitis, the authors explain, while rhinitis itself is an important risk factor for the development of asthma.

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