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What Are the Causes of Inflammatory Bowel Disease?
Are you constantly having stomach pain or cramps? Is it common for you to have diarrhea or blood in your stool? You may suffer from IBD or Inflammatory Bowel Disease. IBD is a general term used for ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease, both of which are defined as inflammation, ulcers, or sores that develop in the digestive tract.
Though the exact cause of IBD is unknown, many doctors agree on three potential causes or indicators:
- Genetic Predisposition
- Environmental factors
- Autoimmune Response to Diet
Genetic Predisposition
Doctors have found that you are at a higher risk of developing IBD if you have other family members who have it. You can still develop IBD if you do not have any other family who has developed IBD, but genetics have been found to play a role in diagnosis. Most people are diagnosed before the age of 30, but you can also develop it later in life in your 50s or 60s. Studies have found that the highest rates of IBD are found in those who are Caucasian or of Ashkenazi Jewish descent.
Environmental Factors
Diet and stress were originally thought to be major causes of IBD, but Doctors ruled those out as causes and moved them to environmental factors that aggravate the disease and make symptoms worse. Though these have been ruled out as triggers there are other suspected environmental factors that could be potential causes. Cigarette smoking is a significant risk factor for developing Crohn’s Disease. Cigarette smoking is considered a potential controllable risk factor but there are several uncontrollable risk factors. Where you live is also an indicator. Living in an industrialized country increases your chances of being diagnosed with IBD. It is thought that by living in an industrialized country you are either exposed to a virus that could cause IBD or that the dramatic revolution in diet could change your body’s response to digestion.
Autoimmune Response to Diet
An autoimmune response is when your immune system mistakes certain systems in your body as foreign and starts attacking them. In regards to IBD, it is possible that the drastic change in our diets have changed the gut so much that your own immune system does not recognize the normal bacteria in the digestive tract and begins to attack it.
Over the last several decades our diets have changed significantly. How our food is made, grown, or prepared is completely different than 100 years ago. Dr. Gary Wu, a Gastroenterologist with the University of Pennsylvania, states that “Food is different now than it was previously, and that food additives — things that have changed in our diet over the past several decades — may be playing a role in the increasing incidence of inflammatory diseases that we associate with industrialization.” What this also means is that if we can understand how diet causes or aggravates IBD, we can also understand how to use diet to treat IBD.
Even if Doctors do not fully understand the causes of IBD, they have been able to develop several tests to determine if you have Crohn’s Disease or Ulcerative Colitis. There is also a wide range of treatment options available. And understanding the risk factors is the first step to a better and healthier life.