ABSTRACT
The risk of developing colorectal adenomatous polyps is probably increased by a variety of dietary and environmental factors. We found an association with current alcohol and cigarette consumption. The risk of polyps was increased three times in drinkers who did not smoke and two times in smokers who did not drink, with those who both drank and smoked having 12 times the risk of total abstainers. Since colonic adenomatous polyps are generally regarded as premalignant lesions, these results lend support to the view that alcohol consumption may be an important factor in the pathogenesis of colorectal neoplasia, thus reinforcing the proposed polyp/carcinoma sequence in colorectal carcinogenesis. The role of smoking, however, is less clear particularly since the lack of association of colorectal carcinoma and smoking has been reported in many other studies.
Subject(s)
Alcohol Drinking/adverse effects , Colorectal Neoplasms/etiology , Intestinal Polyps/etiology , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Colon/pathology , Colorectal Neoplasms/pathology , Female , Humans , Intestinal Polyps/pathology , Male , Middle Aged , Rectum/pathology , Risk Factors , Smoking/adverse effectsABSTRACT
The therapeutic efficacy of prednisolone metasulphobenzoate enemas in the treatment of distal colitis has been compared with that of low-dose oral prednisolone, in a single-blind, cross-over trial. Treatment with steroid enemas resulted in symptomatic and sigmoidoscopic evidence of improvement more frequently than treatment with a dosage of oral steroid calculated to achieve similar plasma prednisolone levels. In addition to demonstrating, for the first time, that prednisolone metasulphobenzoate enemas are effective in the treatment of colitis, this study suggests that their efficacy is due to a local action rather than systemic absorption.
