The surprising link between smoking and ulcerative colitis

A new study shows that smokers have fewer cases of ulcerative colitis.

 

Ulcerative colitis affects areas of the colon or rectum and is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease. Mucosal inflammation, as well as characteristic ulcerations, can lead to abdominal pain, diarrhea or constipation and a compromised quality of life.

 

It is a well-known fact that smoking damages health and causes lung cancer. But compared to people who have never smoked, tobacco may delay the onset of ulcerative colitis. Thus, smokers may have a lower chance of being diagnosed with ulcerative colitis.

 

What is ulcerative colitis?

Inflammatory bowel disease is defined by partial or total inflammation, located in the intestine. Ulcerative colitis affects the large intestine, most often the area near the rectum. The intestinal mucosa develops ulcers, which further irritates the tissues.

 

Symptoms of ulcerative colitis include:

• Strong abdominal pain
• Abdominal cramps
• Diarrhea or constipation
• Stool with traces of blood and / or mucus
• Intestinal malabsorption (difficulty absorbing nutrients from food due to compromised intestinal mucosa)
• Weight loss
• Anemia

 

Other symptoms that do not depend on the gastrointestinal system include: stomatitis, scleritis or rheumatoid arthritis. The treatment is usually drug based, as appropriate, on non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroids or drugs that inactivate the autoimmune response. Serious cases of ulcerative colitis require surgery to excise partially or completely the colon, an operation called colectomy.

 

Specialists consider ulcerative colitis a recurrent disease, ie a condition that has periods of remission and outbreaks. The purpose of the treatment is to help the patient enter the phase of remission of the disease, in which the symptoms manifest less or not at all. But each case is different, and the outbreaks may occur a few months or even a few years apart.

 

The exact causes of the onset of ulcerative colitis are not known. Specialists suspect that this is an autoimmune disease, in which case the immune system works improperly on the body. But the environmental factors cannot be ignored, especially the nutrition and consumption of saturated fats, sugar and alcohol.

 

How smoking affects health

Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death around the world. Researchers have found that smoking affects almost every organ in the body. In the United States, smoking causes more deaths than all those caused by HIV, alcohol, road accidents and gun accidents in one place. Smoking is also responsible for 90% of lung cancer deaths and 80% of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

 

Although lung cancer is most commonly associated with tobacco use, smoking can cause cancer in almost any part of the body. But a new study shows the potential benefits of nicotine in inflammation of the gut.