Asthma can be traced to granny’s smoking status

Children whose grandmothers smoked have a heightened risk of asthma even if their mothers avoided the habit, a study has shown.

Evidence that the lifestyle sins of the grandmother can skip a generation and be visited upon her grandchildren comes from a large Swedish study.

It adds to growing evidence that “epigenetic” environmental influences can alter genetic activity in ways that may be inherited, leading to health problems that emerge in offspring.