The findings were derived from a six-year experiment involving hundreds of CF patients, and thorough analysis of conditions related to CF and secondhand smoke. The John Hopkins University researchers discovered that passive smoking was linked to decrease in lung function.
Scientists also concluded that the mutations of a gene that caused CF was the determinant of the actual level of effects caused by secondhand smoke on lung conditions and functions in the patients.
"It's always been suspected that secondhand smoke is detrimental to lung disease patients," co-author Garry Cutting wrote in the report, as quoted by the AFP, "and now we have a handle on one specific gene that clearly makes it worse for those with cystic fibrosis."
The report added to say that studies on CF patients had failed to be consistent in highlighting the relationship between the condition and "poorer clinical outcomes" of the patients.
According to HealthDay, the scientists note the study as something that "raises the specter that healthy children bearing certain genetic variants may be at much higher risk for worse outcomes as a result of secondhand smoke exposure."
Based on the findings, the scientists pointed towards the complete "eradication of cigarette smoke exposure for all individuals with this life-limiting disorder."
The study was published in an issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
