from Frontiers of Immunology
Do you need yet another reason to stop
smoking? Previous studies show cigarette
smoking increases the risk of inflammatory
bowel disease, but how was not clear. A
new study from researchers from South
Korea found laboratory animals exposed to
cigarette smoke, as expected, showed
lung inflammation, but they also showed
an intestinal inflammation similar to
Crohn’s disease. Looking closer, the
researchers suggest certain white blood
cells in the lung are activated by smoking
and may later move to the colon triggering
inflammation there, too. The researchers,
writing in Frontiers of Immunology, say
smokers, especially those who also have
bowel disease, should reduce their
smoking.