Whole Body Health

The discovery has yet to be confirmed by clinical trials, but it raises hopes for the estimated 170,000 Canadians with either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis.

Canada has one of the highest reported rates in the world for Crohn’s disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disorder that usually affects the lower small intestine.”Our data suggests for the first time that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to Crohn’s disease,” said John White, an endocrinologist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre.

White noted that people who live in northern climates — which receive less sunshine that is essential for the fabrication of Vitamin D by the human body — are especially vulnerable to Crohn’s disease.

White and his colleagues treated cancer cells in the lab with Vitamin D, and then carried out a micro-array or genetic analysis of those cells. They found that Vitamin D switched on two genes that are important in preventing or fighting Crohn’s disease.

“It’s reasonable to think that Vitamin D deficiency can contribute to the frequency of the disease,” White said. “Siblings of patients with Crohn’s disease that haven’t yet developed the disease might be well advised to make sure they’re Vitamin D sufficient.”

As for whether taking Vitamin D could be an effective treatment for Crohn’s, White was cautious, saying that would have to be demonstrated in a clinical trial.

The White study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

According to a study published online in the journal Nature Genetics, researchers have identified 13 more genes that are associated with ulcerative colitis. The study looked at the genes of 2,009 people with ulcerative colitis and 1,580 controls in order to determine which genes affected ulcerative colitis. Researchers then place the number of genes now known to be associated with ulcerative colitis at 30, and about half of those are also associated with Crohn’s disease.

While this new information may seem esoteric, it does help further the understanding of the causes of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It could be years before this data is able to be applied in any meaningful way for people who have IBD, but every new piece of data brings the medical community one step closer to prevention and effective treatment of IBD.

_Sources:

_{McGovern DP, Gardet A, Törkvist L, et al. “Genome-wide association identifies multiple ulcerative colitis susceptibility loci.” Nat Genet 2010 Mar 14 [Epub ahead of print]. 23 Mar 2010.}

_{This article is a reprint of  http://ibdcrohns.about.com/b/2010/03/24/more-ibd-genes-identified.htm}

_{The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News March 24. 2010}

Chemicals found in cannabis could prove an effective treatment for the inflammatory bowel diseases Ulcerative Colitis Disease and Crohn’s Disease, say scientists.

Laboratory tests have shown that two compounds found in the cannabis plant — the cannabinoids THC and cannabidiol — interact with the body’s system that controls gut function.

Crohn’s Disease and Ulcerative Colitis, which affect about one in every 250 people in Northern Europe, are caused by both genetic and environmental factors. The researchers believe that a genetic susceptibility coupled with other triggers, such as diet, stress or bacterial imbalance, leads to a defective immune response.

Dr Karen Wright, Peel Trust Lecturer in Biomedicine at Lancaster University, presented her soon-to-be published work at The British Pharmacological Society’s Winter Meeting in London.

She said: “The lining of the intestines provides a barrier against the contents of the gut but in people with Crohn’s Disease this barrier leaks and bacteria can escape into the intestinal tissue leading to an inappropriate immune response.

“If we could find a way to restore barrier integrity in patients we may be able to curb the inflammatory immune response that causes these chronic conditions.”

Dr Wright, working with colleagues at the School of Graduate Entry Medicine and Health in Derby, has shown that cells that react to cannabinoid compounds play an important role in normal gut function as well as the immune system’s inflammatory response.

“The body produces its own cannabinoid molecules, called endocannabinoids, which we have shown increase the permeability of the epithelium during inflammation, implying that overproduction may be detrimental,” said Dr Wright.

“However, we were able to reverse this process using plant-derived cannabinoids, which appeared to allow the epithelial cells to form tighter bonds with each other and restore the membrane barrier.”

The research was carried out using cell cultures in a dish but, interestingly, when the team attempted to mimic the conditions of the gut by reducing the amount of oxygen in the cells’ environment, much lower concentrations of cannabinoid were needed to produce the same effect.

Dr Wright added: “What is also encouraging is that while THC has psychoactive properties and is responsible for the ‘high’ people experience when using cannabis, cannabidiol, which has also proved effective in restoring membrane integrity, does not possess such properties.”

Source:http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091220175502.htm
The time or date displayed reflects when an article was added to Google News Dec.20, 2009

Often, arthritis can appear before the symptoms of IBD, especially in children with Crohn’s disease. If your child develops arthritis, Crohn’s should be considered, even if your child isn’t yet experiencing any intestinal symptoms and occult stool tests are negative.

Another form of arthritis called “spinal arthritis” – or spondylitis – can occur years before the onset of more common IBD symptoms, such as bloody diarrhea and abdominal pain. Spondylitis produces pain and stiffness in the lower spine and sacroiliac joints. A more sinister and rare form of spinal arthritis called “ankylosing spondylitis” can lead to inflammation of the eyes, lungs and heart valves. Both forms of spondylitis are serious illnesses that can severely limit your quality of life and lead to serious complications. It’s important to seek timely treatment or better yet, try to prevent the onset of arthritis if you’re at risk because you suffer from IBD.

Prevention is key for IBD sufferers.

If you suffer from IBD – be it either ulcerative colitis or Crohn’s disease - it’s important to talk to a doctor about preventative measures you can take to avoid arthritis. As the saying goes – and it’s particularly true in this case – the best offense is defense.

Clearly, people suffering from colitis and arthritis need to address both diseases. Otherwise, you’ll be simply relieving symptoms rather than treating the underlying cause. For example, NSAIDs (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as aspirin and ibuprofen) along with steroid injections are often used to treat arthritis and lessen pain associated with it. But if you’re an IBD sufferer – beware! NSAIDs can irritate your intestinal lining and lead to more inflammation. It’s important that your treatment plan considers all aspects of both conditions.

If you’re overweight, try to lose weight. Your diet should be modified according to your body neeeds, avoiding specific triggers that lead to your symptoms. Although you need to follow a special diet (i.e. gluten-free in celiac disease or meat-free in gout and other arthitic pain), it is important to keep all the essential nutrients, especially protein, in balance with proper quantity and quality of minerals and vitamins. Controlling your nutrition will be the most important tool on your road to wellness.

For more information about arthritis treatment

Intestinal blockage can occur in people with Crohn’s disease. Blockage occurs because the intestinal wall thickens or swells from inflammation and scar tissue. Ulcers can also cause tunnels to form through the inflamed areas of the intestine or even the healthy parts. These tunnels are called fistulas. Sometimes pockets of infection, called abscesses, can form in and around the fistulas. Fistulas can be treated with medicine, but sometimes surgery is needed.

People with Crohn’s disease often don’t get the nutrients they need. If you have Crohn’s disease, you may not get enough protein, vitamins, or calories in your diet. If you aren’t getting nutrients, it may be because you

-have an upset stomach that keeps you from eating enough
-may be losing protein in the intestine
-may not be able to absorb nutrients from your food

 
Other problems that some people with Crohn’s disease suffer from are arthritis, skin problems, swelling in the eyes or mouth, kidney stones, and gallstones.

Long-term use of thiopurines bears further study, researchers say

The use of thiopurine drugs to treat inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) increases the risk of cancers related to viral infection, according to a new study.

IBD includes Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Thiopurine drugs are used to suppress the immune system in order to maintain remission in IBD patients.

For this study, French researchers analyzed data on 19,486 IBD patients (60 percent with Crohn’s and 40 percent with ulcerative colitis or unclassified IBD) who were followed for a median of 35 months.

At the start of the study, 30 percent of patients were taking thiopurines, 14 percent had discontinued them, and 56 percent had never received thiopurines. During the study, 23 patients developed malignant lymphoproliferative disorders (LD) — cancers that are associated with viral infection, particularly those linked to Epstein Barr virus (EBV) infection.

Of the 23 patients with LD, 22 had non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and one had Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Incidence rates of LD were 0.90 per 1,000 patient-years in those receiving thiopurines, 0.20 per 1,000 patient-years in those who’d discontinued the drugs, and 0.26 per 1,000 patient-years in those who’d never taken thiopurines.

The researchers calculated that IBD patients taking thiopurines had a more-than-five-fold increased risk compared to those who’d never received the drugs. Older patients, men, and those who’d had IBD for longer were also at increased risk of LD.

“Extrapolating our results, the absolute cumulative risk of (LD) in young patients receiving a 10-year course of thiopurines remains low (less than 1 percent) and does not undermine the positive risk-benefit ratio of these drugs. For elderly patients and unlimited treatment periods, the question should be addressed in dedicated studies,” wrote Laurent Beaugerie, a professor at Hospital Saint-Antoine, Paris, and colleagues.

The study appeared online Monday and in an upcoming print issue of The Lancet.

“Although we recognize the slightly increased risk of lymphoma, these agents will probably remain one of the cornerstones of treatment. Nonetheless, physicians should be cautious when prolonged combined and deep immunosuppression is needed to achieve disease control,” Dr. Geert D’Haens, of the Imelda GI Clinical Research Centre and University Hospital Gasthuisberg in Belgium, and Dr. Paul Rutgeerts, University Hospital Gasthuisberg, wrote in an accompanying editorial.