Is there a potential health benefit to smoking?

The other day I was reading a highly regarded publication, the MX (a Melbourne commuter newspaper, not really that highly regarded, although a great source of trashy news), and read a story about cigarettes actually having a healthy impact on an individual. I have always been taught about the harms of cigarettes, so I was intrigued to learn more about this possible benefit of smoking. It turns out that there was a story of an individual who was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis (a bowel disease which is similar to Crohns disease) and was struggling with crippling pain, tiredness, dehydration and other symptoms, which all disappeared shortly after taking up a four- cigarette-a-day smoking habit.

I found this to be incredible, however as I read further in the article, I discovered that it wasn't the smoking habit the was removing these symptoms, but the nicotine that the person gained from the cigarettes. There has actually been a number of studies done on using nicotine as a treatment and apparently people can gain the same reduction in symptoms of this disease using nicotine patches, which have far less negative impacts. I can understand that this person would want to remove the pain, however to trade a lack of pain now for a potential to develop many types of cancer in the future, was dumbfounding. In general I am always a little dumbfounded as to why anybody would take up smoking these days, especially since we all know the risks involved. This is why I was interested in this story, because I thought perhaps the gains in this case outweighed the risks, which would at least justify why one person would take up smoking. Sadly I was disappointed, as the gains that were made from smoking in this story could easily have been gained from a less health damaging activity. So I am still yet to be given a satisfactory explanation of why anybody would risk their health by taking up smoking, maybe one day a reason will present itself, but I won't hold my breath.