One such study, presented at the May 2023 Digestive Diseases conference, identified a number of risk factors that played a role in the rise in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), according to The Healthy.
Three main risk factors
The three main risk factors include early exposure to antibiotics, a Western diet, and higher socioeconomic status.
With the help of Dr. Simon Mathews, assistant professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University and practicing gastroenterologist, the experts wanted to identify the most serious causes of intestinal inflammation in the adult population and the importance of awareness of these causes. As Dr. Mathews stated, “The GI tract goes from top to bottom, and anything in between can be affected by inflammation.”
Here are the 5 most serious causes of intestinal inflammation, according to the study.
Infectious conditions
As you might already guess, infection (gastroenteritis) can be a major contributor to intestinal inflammation. With both viral and bacterial causes, the infection can present with a number of common symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
“Depending on the symptoms, it can help you locate it,” says Dr. Mathews. “The presence of upper symptoms like nausea or vomiting means it’s probably higher in the GI tract, as opposed to diarrhea, which will be lower.”
In terms of prevention, there are precautions you can take to reduce your chances of gastrointestinal infection. Simple things like proper hand washing and thorough washing of produce can reduce the transfer of viral infections, and proper food handling can decrease the risk of bacterial gastroenteritis.
Autoimmune diseases
Autoimmune disease occurs when the body’s natural defense system cannot differentiate between its own cells and foreign cells, causing the body to mistakenly attack normal cells. In terms of the GI tract, there are several notable autoimmune causes of intestinal inflammation that Dr. Mathews has identified.
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), as referred to in the pediatric study, is a term used for two autoimmune conditions: Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. According to Dr. Mathews, “the mystery of how (IBD) starts and the exact mechanism by which someone gets IBD are difficult to unravel.”
In pediatrics, the study found, early exposure to antibiotics, Western diet and higher socioeconomic status were risk factors. Smoking, a high-fat diet, and antibiotics were risk factors for adults, which Dr. Mathews further narrowed down for adults.
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Source: www.doctorulzilei.ro
