LifeCare Chiropractic

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IBD

C-sections and Gluten

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IS C-SECTION TO BLAME FOR INCREASED RATES OF COMMON INTESTINAL DISEASE?

The incidence of celiac disease (allergy to the gluten component of grains like wheat and oats) continues to increase, and we now see “gluten free” in stores and on restaurant menus everywhere.  This can be a serious problem, leading to a higher overall mortality rate for those that continue to eat gluten, most likely because of the subtle inflammation that results over the course of decades.  The increase is believed to result from two phenomenia–increase in the presence of Candida yeast from antibiotic used combined with overall higher levels of gluten from the use of nitrogenous fertilizers in commercial farming.  The idea that C-section contributes to this (increased risk 80%) is likely because it is known that the bacterial flora in C-section babies is different than that of vaginal births.  Yet another ramification of the medicalization of childbirth.

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New Variant of IBD Observed in Children With Developmental Disorders – (10-30-00)

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New Variant of IBD Observed in Children With Developmental Disorders

Dr. Andrew Wakefield is truly a pioneer, and yet he has received an indescribable amount of criticism for his studies suggesting a possible link between the mumps vaccine and autism. And yet, like many old pioneers ridiculed by their colleagues, further research is confirming his findings. There appears to be a link between the health of the GI tract and autistic patients. While some may consider this ludicrous, to those of use familiar with functional medicine, it is very plausible.

Am J Gastroenterol 2000;95:2154-2156,2285-2295 Children with developmental disorders seem to be at risk of developing a distinct variant of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) that lacks the typical features of either Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis. “The combination of ileocolonic lymphoid nodular hyperplasia and colitis in children with developmental disorders distinguished them from developmentally normal children with similar symptoms (including abdominal pain and constipation) in whom lymphoid nodular hyperplasia and histopathological change were uncommon,” Dr. Wakefield and colleagues say. The accumulating evidence of a specific variant of enterocolitis in autism makes it “tempting to suggest that a gut-brain interaction” may be involved in the pathogenesis of what researchers are beginning to call “autistic enterocolitis,” the authors note. They explain that recent detection of opioid peptides of dietary origin in urine from some affected children is further evidence of this possibility. But in a related editorial, Drs. Eamonn M. M. Quigley and David Hurley, of the National University of Ireland in Cork, say that “there is, at present, insufficient evidence to establish either a direct or indirect link…between an inflamed gut and the brain, in autism.”

Measles Presence in Some Patients With IBD, Autistic Enterocolitis – (08-03-00)

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Measles Presence in Some Patients With IBD, Autistic Enterocolitis

There has been much controversy about whether the MMR vaccine can lead to autism in suseptable persons. This is another study that begins to add weight to this theory.

Dig Dis Sci 2000;45:723-729 Japanese and UK-based scientists have detected measles virus sequences in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from patients with Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and autistic enterocolitis — the recently described syndrome purportedly associated with measles-mumps-rubella vaccination. Dr. Hisashi Kawashima from Tokyo Medical University and colleagues there and in London explain that previous studies have suggested that measles virus may be present in the intestine of Crohn’s disease patients. They also allude to the reported association between measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccination and some cases of autistic enterocolitis, a syndrome of gastrointestinal symptoms and developmental regression in children leading to autism (See Reuters Health report, February 27, 1998). Numerous other reports, however, have discounted that association.

Iron may worsening inflammatory bowel disease – (07-07-00)

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Iron may worsening inflammatory bowel disease

This becomes a catch-22 because many patients with IBD are enemic. It may be possible to use a higher quality iron supplement so absorption is better and no iron will make it into the large intestine.

European Journal of Clinical Investigation 30 (6), 505-510 Iron supplements may increase disease activity in inflammatory bowel disease through the production of the hydroxyl radical. Oral as well as rectal administration of iron resulted in increased pro-inflammatory cytokine production in IL-10-/- mice. We conclude that dietary or topical administered iron increases pro-inflammatory cytokine production in the colon of IL10-/- mice. No significant increase of histological intestinal inflammation was observed.

The Long-term Benefit of Surgery on Quality of Life in Patients With IBD – (06-04-01)

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The Long-term Benefit of Surgery on Quality of Life in Patients With IBD

Okay…where do I start with this one?? Patients with inflammatory bowel disease can be managed very effectively using functional methods and natural approaches. But you have to have an inkling of how the GI tract functions before you can address IBD in this manner. Probiotics are one of the key tools used, and yet few gastroenterologists could adequately describe what they are, let alone the benefits to the GI tract. The idea that surgery can improve the quality of life in IBD patients sheds some light on just how ineffective the conventional treatments for IBD are.

The Long-term Benefit of Surgery on Health-Related Quality of Life in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Disease

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Study Suggests Environmental Factors Play a Causative Role in IBD – (04-16-01)

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Study Suggests Environmental Factors Play a Causative Role in IBD

Now that at least a portion of mainstream medicine is beginning to recognize the role that environment plays in many diseases, we need to take a more aggressive role in managing these conditions without the use of drugs or surgery. Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis in this study were found to occur at higher rates in spouses of patients with the disease that would otherwise have been expected. Patient with IBD can actually respond very well to functional medicine concepts such as restoration of GI environment, avoidance of food allergens and maintenance of optimal digestive functioning.

Gastroenterology — Abstracts: LAHARIE et al. 120 (4): 816

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Mucosal Flora in Inflammatory Bowel Disease – (01-10-02)

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Mucosal Flora in Inflammatory Bowel Disease

This article suggests that patients with IBD have a decreased ability to keep bacteria from growing along the mucosal layer of the gut. A few things to consider here. First, this article does not suggest it, but I would consider the makeup of that flora incredibly important as to the manifestations of the disease. Second, I have seen in several Crohn’s patients that yeast infiltration plays a major role in symptoms. Maybe it is possible that IBD patients have decreased ability to fight off bacteria at the mucosal layer. Maybe in these patients it is incredibly important to maintain high levels of non-pathenogenic bacteria (probiotics) and avoiding lifestyle behaviors that alter that balance negatively…

Gastroenterology — Abstracts: SWIDSINSKI et al. 122 (1): 44

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ROLE OF HEALTHY MICROBIAL FLORA – (04-10-06)

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Clinical, microbiological, and immunological effects of fructo-oligosaccharide in patients with Crohn’s disease

For as much research as there is supporting the role of healthy microbial flora in the development and treatment of IBD, it continues to amaze me that I have yet to have a patient come through my office w/ IBD that was given the slightest bit of information from their GI specialist on the effect of a healthy GI flora.

I even had a patient come in a few weeks ago that had a colonoscopy done and they found some ulcerative lesions, but not enough for a full diagnosis of UC. The approach? Watch and wait. The concept that prevention may be a good idea didn’t enter into the picture.

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