Environmental risk factors in the pathogenesis of peptic ulcer. The role of cigarette smoke

: Smoking habit has been evaluated in 108 patients with gastric or duodenal ulcer diagnosed by endoscopy and in a control group of 147 endoscopically normal subjects. We found a positive association for both the gastric and duodenal ulcer (relative risk of 3.5). Furthermore, an increasing risk was associated both with the duration of smoking and with the amount of cigarettes smoked daily. Conversely, no significant association was demonstrated between peptic ulcer and the more os less precocious age at starting smoking or with the nicotine and tar content of the cigarettes usually smoked. Among ex-smokers, an increasing risk (relative risk of 2.0) was observed for gastric ulcer only.