Ulcerative colitis responsive to smoking and to nicotine chewing gum in a patient with alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency.

Ulcerative colitis is one of the few diseases in which smoking appears to confer some benefit (1). We report a patient whose ulcerative colitis deteriorated on several occasions on stopping cigarettes, and improved on restarting smoking. As a result, she continued smoking despite developing airflow limitation and severe emphysema. She was subsequently found to have alpha 1 anti-trypsin deficiency. She later noticed that she could get a similar benefit in her colitis with nicotine chewing gum as she had with cigarettes. For patients with smoking-responsive ulcerative colitis, non-tobacco forms of nicotine delivery such as gum or transdermal patches should be considered to avoid the hazards of cigarette smoke.