Healthnotes Newswire (June 14, 2001)—Smokers with Crohn’s disease who quit smoking for more than one year can significantly improve the course of their disease, according to a trial published in the the journal Gastroenterology.¹ Crohn’s disease is a chronic, inflammatory condition of the small intestine that causes bloody stools and malabsorption of nutrients. The cause is not well understood.

Doctors from the Rothschild Hospital in Paris enrolled 474 smokers with Crohn’s disease in a smoking cessation program. Those who had successfully quit smoking for more than one year (“quitters”) were compared, in terms of disease progression and need for therapy, with continuing smokers and nonsmokers (i.e., those who had never smoked).

After more than two years of follow-up, the risk of a Crohn’s disease flare-up in quitters was the same as in nonsmokers, and was less than in continuing smokers. Need for steroids and for introduction or reinforcement of immune-suppressive therapy, respectively, were similar in quitters and nonsmokers, and increased in continuing smokers. The risk of surgery was not significantly different in the three groups.