Smokers are up to six times more likely to develop a serious bowel disorder than non-smokers, according to early results from an ongoing EU-wide study, writes Dick Ahlstrom, Science Editor.
Women who smoke are at particular risk of Crohn's disease, according to the Cork-based scientist who heads the study. Crohn's disease is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting the intestine, with symptoms including weight loss, pain and general malaise.
"Smoking is the one key environmental factor. It increases the risk of developing Crohn's disease, but if you already have it, it makes it far worse," said Prof Fergus Shanahan, director of the Alimentary Pharmabiotic Centre at University College Cork. Prof Shanahan heads the EU-funded study, which is currently under way in the Republic, Finland, Spain and France. Smoking has become the single most important factor in assessing the results of the trial, he said yesterday.
Smokers are at least twice as likely and up to six times as likely to develop Crohn's disease compared to non-smokers, he said. "The early studies have shown that tobacco smoking has a major adverse effect," according to Prof Shanahan, who is also chairman of UCC's Department of Medicine and a consultant gastroenterologist at Cork University Hospital. He welcomed and "emphatically supported" the planned ban on smoking in the workplace due to come into effect early next year.