The Role of Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Consumption in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Development and Recurrence

Abstract

During a two-year period (2001-2003), 464 patients were treated for tuberculosis at Jordanovac Department for Lung Diseases in Croatia. Besides pulmonary tuberculosis in 97.7% of patients, patients were also treated for tuberculous pleurisy (0.9%), tuberculous laryngitis (0.6%), tuberculous meningitis (0.2%), tuberculous pericarditis (0.2%) and urogenital tuberculosis (0.4%). Out of the total number of patients, 57.3% declared themselves to be active smokers (men were predominant and made up to 80.8%) and 20.9% to be active alcohol consumers. Both risk factors, i.e. smoking and alcohol consumption, were present in 15.1% of all patients. The most common comorbidities were diabetes mellitus (30.4%), cardiac diseases (11.2%) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (8.0%). Lung carcinoma was the most common malignant disease (n=51), with Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolated in 33% of them. Seventy-two of 464 (15.5%) patients had recurrences of tuberculosis. Of these, 30.5% had one of the risk factors (20.8% were smokers and 9.7% consumed alcohol), while 32.5% of patients had both risk factors. In conclusion, cigarette smoking was proved to be the most significant risk factor for development of pulmonary tuberculosis and its recurrence.

Characteristics of Tuberculosis Patients at the Kauman Public Health Center, District of Ngawi

“…11 Denise Rossato Silva et al discovered the same thing that drinking alcohol on a regular basis was connected with an elevated risk of tuberculosis when smoking was also present. 12 Similar expressions are also supported by many other researchers such as Padmanesan Narasimhan et al, 13 Marina Lampalo et al, 14 Chen Jiang et al, 15 Kuma Diribacorresponding and Gemechu Churiso, 16 and Tengku Noor Farhana Tengku Khalid et al 17 Additionally, the high mobility of men is a contributing factor to the rise in the incidence of tuberculosis. 11 Forty-one patients, or 98%, tested positive for having pulmonary tuberculosis, while one patient, or 2%, tested positive for having a recurrence.…”

Effect of alcohol consumption on relapse outcomes among tuberculosis patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis

“…The important characteristics and outcomes of the included articles were collated ( Table 1 ). Eight articles were conducted in China ( 3 ), one each in Columbia ( 4 ), Russia ( 18 ), India ( 19 ), Mexico ( 20 ), Croatia ( 7 ), South Africa ( 10 ), and Brazil ( 21 ). The majority of the publications were prospective studies.…”

“…The average age of the patients in the studies considered was 50.28 years. Eight studies were included in the study: Four studies defined outcomes as relapse ( 3 , 4 , 7 , 10 ) and four studies defined outcomes as death ( 18 – 21 ).…”

“…Factors affecting the development of TB depend on the infection concentration at the time of infection, nutrition, poverty, and disease or exposure to certain substances or drugs that suppress the immune system, that is, HIV infection; all these factors are to be considered. There are various recognized risk factors for TB relapse, including treatment methods, treatment length, treatment consistency, alcohol usage, smoking, increasing age, and HIV infection (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8). The socio-demographic, cultural, clinical, and behavioral aspects are continuously being studied.…”

Evaluation of treatment outcomes among adult patients diagnosed with tuberculosis in Ghana: A 10 year retrospective review

“…Proposed predictors of successful TB treatment reported include the female sex, HIV-negative status and being of a young age [3] , [4] , [5] , [6] , [7] . HIV infection, socioeconomic factors, adverse reactions from TB drugs, undernutrition, alcohol abuse and old age have been noted to be risk factors for poor outcomes in persons with TB infection [5] , [8] , [9] .…”