AIM:To analyze the characteristics of ulcerative colitis(UC)in China.METHODS:From 1981 to 2000,a total of 10218 patients of UCreported in Chinese medical literature and Including ourcases diagnosed were analyzed according to the diagnosticcriteda of Lennard-Jones.RESULTS:The number of cases increased by 3.08 times overthe past 10 years(2506 patients were diagnosed from 1981 to1990 while 7512 patients were diagnosed from 1991 to 2000).Lesion range were described in 7966 patients,5592(70.20%)were proctosigmoiditis or proctitis,1792(22.50%)left-sidedcolitis,582(7.30%)pancolitis.Among the 8122 patients,2826(34.8%)had first episode,4272(52.6%)had chronicrelapse,869(10.7%)were of chronic persist type,154(1.9%)were of acute fulminant type.The course of theillness were described in 5867 patients,4427(75.5%)wereless than 5 years,910(15.5%)between 5 and 10 years,530(9.1%)more than 10 years.Six hundred and sixteenpatients petients(6.1%)had extraintestinal manifestations,.The mean age at the diagnosis was 40.7 years(range 6-ε(?))years,and the peak ages 30-49 years).The male to femaleratio wasl.09.Among 270 patients diagnosed in ourhospital,36 had histories of smoking,there was no negativeassociation between the severity of UC and smoking(P>0.05),21 smokers ware followed up for one year,15 of themhad given up smoking when the disease ware diagnosed,and one year later,7 patients relapsed,another 6 patientscontinued smoking,and one year later,2 patients relapsed.Among 270 UC patients diagnosed in our hospital,4 patients(1.48%)from 2 families had familial history of UC.Treatment was mentioned in 6859 patients,only SASP and/or corticosteroid only in 1276 patients(18.6%),only Chineseherbs in 1377 patients(20.1%),combined Chinese andwestern medicine in 4056 patients(59.1%),surgery wasperformed in 87 patients(1.3%),other treatments in 63patients(0.9%).CONCLUSIONS:In China,number of UC patients increasedsignificantly in the past 10 years.Lesions are commonlylocated to left side colon.The course is short with rareextraintestinal manifestations.The age of onset is relativelyhigh.Males and females are nearly equally affected.Nonegative relation was found between smoking and severityof the disease.Familial relatives are rarely involved. Traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)is widely used in thetreatment of UC. AIM: To analyze the characteristics of ulcerative colitis (UC) in China. METHODS: From 1981 to 2000, a total of 10218 patients of UCreported in Chinese medical literature and Including ourcases diagnosed were analyzed according to the diagnostic code of Lennard-Jones .RESULTS: The number of cases were increased by 3.08 times overthe past 10 years (2506 patients were diagnosed from 1981 to 1990 while 7512 patients were diagnosed from 1991 to 2000). Lesions range were described in 7966 patients, 5592 (70.20%) were proctosigmoiditis or proctitis, 1792 (22.5%) had chronic persistent disease, 869 (10.7%) were chronic persist type, 154 (22.50%) left-sidedcolitis, 582 (7.30%) pancolitis. Amd the 8122 patients, 2826 (34.8%) had first episode, 4272 1.9%) were of acute fulminant type. The course of the improvement was described in 5867 patients, 4427 (75.5%) were less than 5 years, 910 (15.5%) between 5 and 10 years, 530 (9.1%) more than 10 years. Six hundred and sixteen patients petients (6.1%) had extraintestinal manifestations,. The mean age at the diagn osis was 40.7 years (range 6-ε (?)) years, and the peak ages 30-49 years). The male to female ratio wasl.09.Among 270 patients diagnosed in our hospital, 36 had histories of smoking, there was no negative association between the severity of UC and smoking (P> 0.05), 21 smokers ware followed up for one year, 15 of themhad given up smoking when the disease ware diagnosed, and one year later, 7 patients relapsed, another 6 patientscontinued smoking, and one year later, 2 patients relapsed. Among 270 UC patients diagnosed in our hospital, 4 patients (1.48%) from 2 families had familial history of UC. treated was mentioned in 6859 patients, only SASP and / or corticosteroid only in 1276 patients (18.6 CONCLUSIONS: In China, number (%), only Chineseherbs in 1377 patients (20.1%), combined Chinese and western medicine in 4056 patients (59.1%), surgery was formed in 87 patients (1.3%), other treatments in 63patients of UC patients increased slightly in the past 10 years. Lesions are commonly located to left side colon.The course is short with rareextraintestinal manifestations. The age of onset is relativelyhigh. Males and females are nearly equally affected.Nonegative relation was found between smoking and severityof the disease .Familial relatives are rarely involved. thetreatment of UC.