A lot of studies found the cigarette smoking link with lung cancer, emphysema and other respiratory ailments. But a recent research found another harmful effect of smoking.

For example doctors from Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj Medical University’s (CSMMU) urology department have proved that patients who consumed tobacco and provided poor oral hygiene took more time to recover after urethroplasty.

They found that about 50% of patients suffered from a condition called stricture or narrowing of the urethra (tube that connects the urinary bladder with the outside of the body). Urethral strictures are usually caused by either injury-related trauma to the tract or by a viral or bacterial infection of the tract, or a sexually transmitted disease.

The narrowing happens as a result of body’s attempt to repair the damage caused by the injury or infection that produces an increase of wound tissue in the tract resulting in an important narrowing or even closing of the passage. Urethroplasty (an operation for the repair of an injury or a defect in the walls of the urethra) is the process to treat this condition.

The most popular method is to extract a stratum from the interior part of the oral cavity (mucosa). Then the affected place is cut and manually widened. The harvested layer is put at the affected site and joined at both the ends, thus normalizing function.

But the mucosa layer of those tobacco-users who have a poor oral hygiene causes more donors site incidence when compared with the non-smokers. Doctors found that pain sores were higher amongst the users and the morbidity persisted longer. Even the healing of the oral cavity was hold-up.

The doctors studied 48 patients suffering with urethral strictures who underwent urethroplasty. They were divided into two groups: those who consumed tobacco were placed in a category called “users” while the others were kept in the “non-users” category. The affected category was investigated against several parameters like pain, swelling, stupor and so on, on regular intervals. They concluded at the end of the investigation that those consuming tobacco must be warned against the negative effect as well.

Prof Dalela commented: “Despite a ban and bloody warnings, sale of tobacco products continues to rise. Time has probably come when such indirect effects also are popularized to discourage people from consuming tobacco.”