The photo and the text can be changed by modifying the about.php file.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASE
What is it?
Inflammatory bowel disease is a blanket term that covers two major conditions, Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. They are very much more common than they used to be, hospitalizing more than 100,000 people in the US every year.
At first symptoms are so mild that you ignore them: a bout of diarrhea every few months and occasional abdominal pain. As the years pass the symptoms get worse. There is either diarrhea or constipation and the stools are bloody. Fleeting abdominal pain turns into chronic pains and the person feels ill and lacking in energy.
The vast majority of medical efforts are useless in these conditions though drugs can help a few and surgery a few more.
What causes it?
No one knows for sure but there are several plausible theories.
• Food intolerance. A group of researchers in Cambridge have found intolerance in Crohn’s disease.
• Crohn’s disease was unknown until the 1930s, but now it affects one in every 3,000 westerners. Because there have been such profound dietary changes over this period research has been aimed at dietary factors. A German study found that patients with Crohn’s disease ‘consumed large quantities of refined carbohydrate’. Another survey of the breakfast habits of Crohn’s disease patients found that they usually ate refined breakfast cereals such as cornflakes. In a survey of sugar intake Crohn’s patients were found to eat the equivalent of ten teaspoons a day while those without the disease ate seven. Other studies have found that Crohn’s patients add 26 per cent more sugar to tea and coffee, and 13 per cent more to cereals than do people without the disease.
• Zinc deficiency is now well recognized as part of the problem. Crohn’s patients have many dietary deficiencies, partly because they lose their appetite and eat so poorly and partly because the disease itself reduces the intestinal absorption of nutrients. Crohn’s patients have insufficient levels of protein, iron, folate, calcium and vitamin B12. Recently, though, zinc deficiency has been found to be the most important of all. Zinc controls many body systems but in Crohn’s patients its lack further heightens the poor appetite and loss of taste for food. Many Crohn’s patients have no desire to eat. Zinc is also vital for healthy skin and some people with this condition have severe skin rashes. Normal eyesight needs zinc and some Crohn’s patients have night blindness. Zinc is vital for wound healing and Crohn’s disease never fully heals.
Adults with Crohn’s disease have been found to have zinc levels 15 per cent lower than normal, and their sense of taste has been found to be 65 per cent duller than normal. Studies giving patients with Crohn’s disease zinc supplements have found that several of the abnormalities associated with the condition are eliminated.
• Vitamin Ñ deficiency can also cause some of the symptoms of Crohn’s disease. One study found that Crohn’s patients had vitamin Ñ levels 32 per cent lower than normal. This led the researchers to suggest that all patients with Crohn’s disease should supplement their diet with vitamin C.
• There is some evidence of a link between Crohn’s disease and psoriasis and monilia. Though there is little true scientific evidence to support it, anecdotal evidence shows that some people with inflammatory bowel disease improve on nystatin-the antifungal drug-combined with a low-yeast, low-refined-carbohydrate diet.
Prevention
There is probably no way of preventing inflammatory bowel disease from occurring in the first place but understanding the causes suggests some valuable ways of preventing the disease getting worse once it is present.
• If you are allergic to or intolerant of any foods, don’t eat them. This could prevent unseen and unrecognized damage being done to the large bowel.
• Eat a diet low in refined carbohydrates and rich in unrefined ones.
• Eat less sugar.
• Eat more dietary fibre.
• Take zinc supplements once you start to suffer from any of the symptoms of the disease.
• Take vitamin Ñ in large doses-1 g twice a day-if you have the condition.
• Talk to your doctor about trying nystatin and go on to a low-yeast diet.
*184/72/5*
Add A Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.