Cigarettes, Alcohol, Coffee and Peptic Ulcer

Abstract The relation of cigarette smoking, alcohol and coffee consumption and educational attainment to a history of peptic ulcer was studied in 36,656 white male and female subjects of multiphasic examinations, 30 to 59 years of age. Among men, a 2.1-fold greater percentage of cigarette smokers than of nonsmokers reported a history of peptic ulcer; for women the prevalence was 1.6 times greater in cigarette smokers. Duration of smoking, quantity smoked and inhalation were each related to a history of peptic ulcer. Although alcohol and coffee consumption were correlated with cigarette smoking and the two beverages reportedly stimulate gastric acid secretion, they were not positively related to prevalence of peptic ulcer and did not explain the relation of cigarette smoking to peptic ulcer; nor did educational attainment or body build. (N Engl J Med 290:469–473, 1974)