Smoking Can Worsen the Symptoms of Crohn’s Disease




tobacco smoke

A recent study published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology links smoking to an elevated incidence of Crohn’s disease located in the small intestine. While non-smokers suffer more often from a milder form of Crohn’s disease of the colon, this serious illness usually attacks smokers’ more vulnerable and fragile small intestine and manifests in a more severe form.

Crohn’s disease is an incurable condition that causes a deep inflammation of the intestinal wall. It can occur in different parts of the digestive tract, including the oesophagus, small and large intestine, colon, and anus. The symptoms range from mild to severe and usually manifest in cramping, diarrhoea, rectal bleeding, and fever. Crohn’s disease can form scar tissues and swelling on the intestinal wall and produce abscesses that tunnel into surrounding tissues. Inflamed parts of the gastrointestinal tract often impair digestion and block the passage of waste matter.

The author of the research, Dr. Marian Aldhous, says that Crohn’s disease in smokers may require more aggressive forms of treatment, including surgery. When the small intestine is damaged by the illness, it tends to be more severely affected, thus leaving surgical treatment as the only remaining way to control the disease.

Those who suffer from Crohn’s disease in the small intestine lose their ability to properly digest food and experience weight loss, nutritional deficiencies, anemia, and generalized weakness.

The causes of Crohn’s disease remain a mystery. Some researchers believe it has an autoimmune nature, while others think that it may be caused by allergic reactions to certain foods.

It is not clear why Crohn’s disease in smokers damages the small intestine more often and occurs in a more obstructive and penetrating form. The answer may be in a more damaging effect that tobacco smoke produces in the lining of the small intestine compared to other parts of the gastrointestinal tract.

The researchers suggest that more studies are needed in order to understand how smoking influences Crohn’s disease.

John Burke

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Posted on February 28, 2008 
Filed Under Smoking and Health, Tobacco Research

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