Transdermal Nicotine as Maintenance Therapy for Ulcerative Colitis

Ulcerative colitis is largely a disease of nonsmokers, and patients with ulcerative colitis who are exsmokers have usually acquired the disease within a few years after they stopped smoking. 1 – 5 Patients who smoke intermittently often experience improvement in their colitis symptoms during the periods when they are smoking. 6 , 7 Treatment with transdermal nicotine patches and mesalamine (5-aminosalicylic acid) has a beneficial effect on active colitis. 8 , 9 In a randomized, controlled trial, we studied the effect of transdermal nicotine, without mesalamine, on the maintenance of remission in patients with ulcerative colitis. Methods Patients Two hundred fifty patients with ulcerative colitis (age, . . .