Smoking Can Cause Colitis, Crohn's Disease

Smoking cigarettes cannot only injure the lungs but can also affect the intestine causing colitis and Crohn's disease. For the first time, a new study shows a direct effect of cigarette smoke on intestinal inflammation. A research team in South Korea report that exposing mice to cigarette smoke results in colitis, an inflammation of the colon resembling Crohn's disease, and identify a specific white blood cell and inflammatory protein responsible for this effect.