BOSTON, Sept. 25 -- Smoking even as few as five cigarettes a day can stunt developing lungs in teenagers, said researchers Wednesday. Girls appear to be particularly vulnerable to lung damage from cigarette smoke, the researchers said. Investigators studied 5,158 boys and 4,900 girls between the ages of 10 and 18, both smokers and non-smokers. The investigators gave the teenagers breathing tests each year between 1974 and 1989, measuring both lung capacity and size of airways, the tubes that carry air into the lungs. Smokers overall had slower increases in breathing ability over the years. Although the differences are slight -- perhaps not noticeable when kids are running up stairs -- lower lung function early in life can later on lead to more respiratory illness and even early death, said Dr. Diane Gold, an assistant professor of medicine at the Harvard School of Public Health and the Harvard Medical School. 'It was rather surprising to see that as few as five cigarettes a day could have an effect,' said Gold, who led the research team. The study is published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In addition to slower lung development, Gold said that the teens who smoked generally felt worse than non-smoking counterparts, with higher rates of asthma, wheezing and chronic coughs. Symptoms were worse in girls than in the boys. Also, since girls mature earlier than boys, the researchers were able to look at how cigarette smoke affected health after they stopped growing. At age 18, girls who never smoked attained higher lung function, and maintained that level after they matured.
Among smokers, however, there was an evident immediate decline in lung function, said Gold. 'Other studies have shown that the higher one's lung function in early adulthood, the healthier one will be as one grows older,' said Gold. The researchers said that the 'effect of relatively small amounts of cigarette smoke on the level and growth of young children and adolescents is yet another reason to prevent young people from starting to smoke.' New regulations by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration are aimed directly at preventing kids from taking that first puff and getting hooked, according to another report published in the journal. More than 50 million Americans smoke, and about 82 percent of adult smokers had their first cigarette before the age of 18, the researchers wrote. About three million teenagers are regular smokers. These children consume an estimated $1.26 billion in tobacco products every year. Under the new FDA regulations, tobacco companies will be restricted in their efforts to sell cigarettes and products to adolescents. Access to products in stores and vending machines will be limited, as will advertising aimed at children. Tobacco companies also will be barred from distributing T-shirts and other promotional items. Corporate sponsorships, such as tennis tournaments or racing cars, will be able to sport corporate names only. The regulations will be implemented in the coming two years, and are aimed at halving tobacco use among young people in seven years, according to the report. 'This new FDA regulation presents a historic opportunity, giving the United States a chance to reduce the consumption of a product that kills more Americans each year than die from any other preventable cause. The approach is focused in the right place: sparing children and adolescents a lifetime of addiction to tobacco,' FDA Commissioner Dr. David A. Kessler and colleagues wrote in the report. The FDA estimates the new regulations will save between $28 billion and $43 billion in health- related costs each year. (Written by Mara Bovsun in New York)
