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An increased serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25[OH]D) is independently associated with a lower risk for bowel resection with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study. Lintao Dan and colleagues examined the association between serum vitamin D levels and the risk for bowel resection in individuals with IBD. The analysis included 5,474 individuals with IBD followed for a mean 13.1 years. The researchers found that compared with participants with vitamin D deficiency, nondeficient participants showed a significantly reduced bowel resection risk in IBD (hazard ratio [HR], 0.72), Crohn disease (CD; HR, 0.74), and ulcerative colitis (UC; HR, 0.73). For...

Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) exposure is associated with later occurrence of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a research letter. Manasi Agrawal, M.D. and colleagues examined the association of PFAS mixture concentrations in prediagnostic serum in patients with adult-onset IBD participating in a pilot study within the preclinical Proteomic Evaluation and Discovery in an IBD Cohort of Tri-service Subjects study. The analysis included military personnel with Crohn disease (CD), those with ulcerative colitis (UC), and age-, sex-, and race-matched healthy controls (25 in each group). The researchers found that estimated mean concentrations in the study population were 5.19 µg/L...

Researchers have shown that changes can be detected in blood tests up to eight years before a diagnosis of Crohn's disease and up to three years before a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. This means the beginnings of inflammatory bowel diseases start a long time before symptoms occur, and in the future may provide an opportunity for doctors to take preventative action before symptoms begin, or prescribe medication when it will be most effective. Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis are collectively known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). They are incurable conditions which involve excessive inflammation in the gut, leading to symptoms...

Patients who have undergone pelvic radiotherapy may live with low-grade chronic inflammation of the lower intestine 20 years after the treatment. This has been shown in a study. Radiotherapy is often necessary to cure or slow down a cancer. Even though today's radiotherapies feature a high level of precision, healthy tissue in and around the radiation field is still affected. The mucous membrane of the large intestine is normally protected against contact with bacteria in feces by a thin barrier of mucus. In the current study, researchers have shown that radiotherapy to the pelvic area affects this thin layer of...

Chronic bowel inflammation is based on an excessive or misdirected inflammatory reaction. Experts assume that the immune system also reacts incorrectly to microorganisms in the intestine that do not cause an inflammatory immune reaction in a healthy state. Now, researchers have discovered that yeast fungi could play an important role in this. Trillions of microorganisms colonize the human body, especially the intestine. This microbiome consists mainly of viruses and bacteria, but to a lesser extent also of fungi. However, according to current research, this interaction is disturbed in Crohn's disease, a chronic inflammatory bowel disease where the immune cells react...

Higher consumption of dietary fiber was associated with a lower risk for inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to a study. Minzi Deng, Ph.D. and colleagues examined associations between dietary fiber intake and subsequent incidence of IBD, Crohn disease, and ulcerative colitis. The analysis included 470,669 participants from the U.K. Biobank. The researchers found that during an average follow-up of 12.1 years, there was an inverse association between dietary fiber intake and risk for IBD (lowest versus highest quintile: hazard ratio, 0.74; 95% confidence interval, 0.58 to 0.93; P = 0.011) and Crohn's disease (hazard ratio, 0.48; 95% confidence interval, 0.32...

The prevalence of zinc deficiency is about 50 percent in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and is higher in patients with Crohn disease (CD) than those with ulcerative colitis (UC), according to a study. Roberta Zupo and colleagues conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to examine the prevalence of zinc deficiency in IBD. Nine articles met the inclusion criteria, which included 17 prevalence entries for CD and UC (nine and eight, respectively). The researchers found that across selected studies, the prevalence of zinc deficiency showed higher values in CD than in UC. In pooled analyses, the overall mean zinc deficiency prevalence...

Intestine Crohn’s Disease A mystery surrounding Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disease, may have been solved by a new study. This image depicts an intestine affected by Crohn’s disease. ========================================================= New research may have solved a mystery surrounding Crohn’s disease, a type of inflammatory bowel disease where immune defenses meant to attack invading microbes mistakenly target the body’s own digestive tract instead. Norovirus is a common infection that causes vomiting and diarrhea. It is also one of several viruses and bacteria thought to trigger disease onset in people with Crohn’s disease, but the field does not know why....

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) more often have spondyloarthritis (SpA) before and after diagnosis of IBD, according to a study recently published in the Journal of Crohn's and Colitis. Sarita Shrestha, from Örebro University in Sweden, and colleagues compared the occurrence of SpA in a nationwide cohort study involving 39,203 patients diagnosed with IBD during 2006 to 2016 and 390,490 matched reference individuals from the general population. The researchers found that compared with reference individuals, IBD patients were more likely to have prevalent SpA at IBD diagnosis (2.5 versus 0.7 percent; odds ratio, 3.48). IBD patients also more often...

ROME (AP) — President Joe Biden wrapped up his time at the Group of 20 summit on Sunday trying to convince Americans and the wider world that he’s got things under control — and taking Russia, China and Saudi Arabia to task for not doing enough to deal with the existential threat of climate change. Biden’s overall take on his efforts: On climate change, he’s got $900 billion planned for renewable energy, and Congress will vote this coming week. On supply chains, he has plans to make the ports run better and tamp down inflation. For workers, he’s building an...

Yesterday I asked some friends to pray for me over at facebook, because I was having some stomach troubles. Well this morning I think my troubles may be worse than I thought. Yesterday I woke up with severe cramps and bowel pains that lasted about 20 minutes until I had a movement. The pain went away, but I was sweating bullets and the whole experience was extremely painful. Then about 45 minutes later it all happened again, but this time all that came out was bile. I again felt better afterwards, and then every 45 minutes through the day I...

Living in the 'bowels of the earth' In caves all over Greece, archaeologists reveal the secrets of the past HEINRICH HALL * The mythical birthplace of Zeus: the Idaean Cave, central Crete AT SOME point between AD575 and 600, at least 33 men, women and children entered a cave near modern Andritsa, southwest of Argolid, in the eastern Peloponnese. They carried a Christian cross, some money and food supplies, perhaps intending to hide from some temporary threat. They were never to see the light of day again. One by one, they died from starvation, unable or unwilling to escape the...

LONDON, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Consuming too much sorbitol, a sweetener widely used in "sugar-free" chewing gum and sweets, can cause serious bowel problems, German doctors said on Friday. The warning follows the cases of two patients who suffered chronic diarrhoea, abdominal pain and severe weight loss after ingesting large amounts of sorbitol. Writing in the British Medical Journal, the doctors from Berlin said the patients -- a man and a woman -- had consumed some 15 to 20 sticks of chewing gum a day. When they kicked the habit, both regained normal bowel function. Sorbitol, also known as E420,...

Cure for killer bug - but there's a catch KATE FOSTER IN THE annals of medical history, this could go down as one of the most effective but stomach-churning treatments ever devised. Scientists seeking a cure for a deadly superbug have successfully treated patients using human faeces. Trials in a Scottish hospital have shown patients suffering from the Clostridium difficile bug can be cured using 'donor stool' administered via a tube through the nose into their stomach. Clostridium difficile was last week at the heart of a damning report into cleaning failures at the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust...

A baldness cure that will loosen your bowels November 18 2002 at 06:50AM By Lynn Brezosky Harlingen, Texas - Something about the aloe plant evokes the image of a gifted child who needs little coaxing to do well. It takes root under perverse conditions - hot, dry weather preferred. Its healing powers are said to give soothing comfort to everything from burns to ulcers. It can be processed into juice, a capsule or shampoo. And a growing world market is looking to Harlingen, Texas, for its aloe fix. 800ha of aloe vera being harvested With little tending, the crop is...

Carl, Carnahan, Bowels Feel Cramps October 21, 2002 Three Democrat candidates touted by the media and the party; three tales of self-inflicted wounds. In the North Carolina Senate race, Irksome Bowels has been caught bashing Elizabeth Dole for supporting individual Social Security retirement accounts when he himself favored them in 1998! Let this be a lesson to you: if you ever deviate from your principles for political gain, your hypocrisy will come back to bite you in the bowels. Irksome was right on this. If you'd invested your Social Security nest egg in the stock market in 1955, you'd retire...