Smoking increases risk of TB recurrence: study
26 Mar 2014
Regular exposure to tobacco smoke increased the risk of recurrence of tuberculosis in patients, according to a new study.
The study, published Monday, offers revealing insights into the harmful links between smoking tobacco and developing TB.
According to Chung-Yeh Deng of National Yang-Ming University in Taipei and an author of the study, more than ever before, it was now understood how tobacco harmed people who had already been successfully treated for TB, IANS reported.
He added, no one should undergo the complex treatment for TB only to unknowingly place themselves at heightened risk of contracting the disease again.
He added, with the research, researchers could inform national tobacco control policies and educate patients about the risks that smoking tobacco poses.
The researchers conducted their study on a large sample of 5,567 TB patients in Taiwan, each of whom had TB confirmed through bacteriologic testing and had gone on to successfully complete TB treatment.
Of those patients, the disease recurred in 1.5 per cent, with regular tobacco smokers twice as likely to develop recurrent TB as against former smokers and individuals who had never smoked tobacco.
Nearly 2 billion people are infected with TB every year and over 20 per cent of global TB incidence might be due to smoking.
For the study purpose regular smokers were defined as individuals who smoked 10 or more cigarettes - equivalent to half a pack per day.
Until the publication of the study, medical professional lacked a clear sense of how smoking tobacco posed risks to TB patients who had put in the hard work of completing their treatment, said Dr Paula Fujiwara, scientific director of the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.
The announcement of the research came on 24 March to coincide with World TB Day, which marked the anniversary of professor Robert Koch's discovery of the bacteria that caused tuberculosis in Berlin.
Koch's discovery is still considered among the most revolutionary in the history of medicine, a century later.
