[Anonymous October 15, 1998 at 11:38 pm Post count: 93172]

#1049729

Here is an article from Reuters someone sent me regarding Graves’ eyes and
smoking. The source for the article is listed at the end

Thursday October 15 1:52 PM EDT

Smoking affects Graves’ disease treatment

NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) — Smoking reduces the effectiveness of
treatments for the eye complications of Graves’ disease, according to
researchers in Italy.

Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease characterized by an enlarged
thyroid. Patients with the disease can also develop eye symptoms,
including abnormal protrusion of the eyeball, blurred or double vision.

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for eye complications of Graves’
disease, Dr. Luigi Bartalena of the University of Pisa and colleagues
explain in the October 15th issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. They
set out to determine whether or not smoking also affected treatment
outcomes in patients with the disorder.

The researchers reviewed the outcomes of 300 Graves’ disease patients
with mild eye symptoms and 150 with severe eye complications. Patients
in the first group were treated with radioiodine, either alone or in
combination with steroid therapy. Patients in the second group all
received steroids and underwent radiation therapy targeting the eye.

Among patients with mild eye symptoms, smokers were more likely to
experience disease progression after radioiodine therapy compared with
nonsmokers, with rates of 23.2% and 5.9%, respectively. In addition,
radioiodine plus steroid therapy was more than
four times more effective in alleviating mild eye symptoms in
nonsmokers than in smokers, Bartalena and colleagues report.

The same association between treatment outcome and smoking status was
observed in patients with more severe forms of the disease. According
to the report, the combination of high-dose steroids and eye
irradiation was more likely to offer benefits to nonsmokers than to
smokers.

The findings “suggest that cigarette smoking increases the risk for
progression of (eye complications) after radioiodine therapy and
decreases the efficacy of orbital irradiation and steroids,” the
Italian investigators conclude. They recommend that patients with eye
complications of Graves’ disease “should be strongly encouraged to
refrain from smoking.”

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine 1998;129:632-635.

[Anonymous March 6, 1999 at 6:07 pm Post count: 93172]

#1147598

JeanC posted this article last fall. Since the effects of smoking with Graves’ eye disease has been brought up on the BB again, I thought it would be appropriate to post it again.

Debby

SOURCE: Annals of Internal Medicine 1998;129:632-635.

Smoking affects Graves’ disease treatment

NEW YORK, Oct 15 (Reuters) — Smoking reduces the effectiveness of
treatments for the eye complications of Graves’ disease, according to
researchers in Italy.

Graves’ disease is an autoimmune disease characterized by an enlarged
thyroid. Patients with the disease can also develop eye symptoms,
including abnormal protrusion of the eyeball, blurred or double vision.

Cigarette smoking is a risk factor for eye complications of Graves’
disease, Dr. Luigi Bartalena of the University of Pisa and colleagues
explain in the October 15th issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. They
set out to determine whether or not smoking also affected treatment
outcomes in patients with the disorder.

The researchers reviewed the outcomes of 300 Graves’ disease patients
with mild eye symptoms and 150 with severe eye complications. Patients
in the first group were treated with radioiodine, either alone or in
combination with steroid therapy. Patients in the second group all
received steroids and underwent radiation therapy targeting the eye.

Among patients with mild eye symptoms, smokers were more likely to
experience disease progression after radioiodine therapy compared with
nonsmokers, with rates of 23.2% and 5.9%, respectively. In addition,
radioiodine plus steroid therapy was more than
four times more effective in alleviating mild eye symptoms in
nonsmokers than in smokers, Bartalena and colleagues report.

The same association between treatment outcome and smoking status was
observed in patients with more severe forms of the disease. According
to the report, the combination of high-dose steroids and eye
irradiation was more likely to offer benefits to nonsmokers than to
smokers.

The findings “suggest that cigarette smoking increases the risk for
progression of (eye complications) after radioiodine therapy and
decreases the efficacy of orbital irradiation and steroids,” the
Italian investigators conclude. They recommend that patients with eye
complications of Graves’ disease “should be strongly encouraged to
refrain from smoking.”

[Author]

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