Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis, although distinguished by well-known characteristics, are collectively known as inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). IBD is characterized by a host of symptoms such as diarrhea, abdominal cramps, rectal bleeding, weight loss, fever, and a host of extra-intestinal symptoms, including disorders of the eyes, liver, gallbladder, muscles and joints, kidneys, and skin. The treatments usually focus on relief of symptoms with anti-inflammatory drugs or surgery (i.e. removal of the affected part of the intestines).
Now, a new study has identified a specific fungus and two bacteria they think play a key role in what leads some people to develop the disease.
Research has previously identified that E. coli bacteria contribute to Crohn’s symptoms, but this is the first study to show the bacteria Serratia marcescens and the fungus Candida tropicalis are also involved.
Some have implicated a viral etiology to IBD. In the medical journal The Lancet, Dr. Wakefield and colleagues found that three of four offspring in mothers that had measles during pregnancy developed severe Crohn’s later in life. Of note is that recurrent antibiotic-resistant pneumonia preceded the Crohn’s in every case.
This is important because antibiotics are known to increase the risk of fungal infection. Another study highlights this fact: an eight-year-old girl who was treated with antibiotics for recurrent upper respiratory tract infections developed intestinal candidiasis, an overgrowth of the yeast Candida albicans, in the gut.
Other scientists have found carbohydrates to be a possible culprit. Two of three worldwide studies found the average intake of carbohydrates (including bread, potatoes, and refined sugars) to be much greater in those who developed IBD/Chron’s than in those who did not.