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Researchers Reveal What May Cause Crohn’s Disease
pjalive21
St. Louis, MO Posts: 2,818
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2016/09/28/researchers-reveal-what-may-cause-crohns-disease-affecting-570000-us/91218890/
A slimy, thin layer of microorganisms able to cling to the intestines could cause the symptoms experienced in Crohn's disease, according to a new study highlighted in the Huffington Post.
Researchers identified the key bacteria and fungus that produce the slimy layer, opening the door to new treatments for the disease.
Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition, affects nearly 570,000 people in the U.S. with abdominal pain and severe fatigue. Doctors have never known a potential cause for the illness until now, WCHMH reported.
The new research identifies a fungus known as Candida tropicalis that, when paired with the bacteria Serratia marcescens and E. Coli, may lead to the development of Crohn's disease in some.
For the study, published last week in the journal Mbio, researchers analyzed patients with Crohn's disease alongside family members without the disease as well as strangers living in the same area. The method let researchers understand the differences between microbiomes in those with Crohn's versus the ones in those around them, according to the Post.
What they found is that patients with Crohn's carry significantly higher amounts of E. Coli, Serratia marcescens and Candida tropicalis than their relatives as well as those living nearby.
The study was lead-authored by Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve University.
“Among hundreds of bacterial and fungal species inhabiting the intestines, it is telling that the three we identified were so highly correlated in Crohn’s patients,” Ghannoum said in a statement.
What's more, Ghannoum noted that the "gut profiles" of families affected by Crohn's were "strikingly different" than those families that hadn't experienced the disease.
Ghannoum warned that other factors potentially shared by relatives —such as diet and environment — may also contribute to Crohn's.
The findings could help find better treatments for the disease, the Post reported, potentially including probiotics with a mix of good bacteria that counteract the bacteria behind Crohn's symptoms. Current treatments Crohn's include anti-inflammatory prescription drugs and, in some cases, surgeries.
For the study, researchers compared fecal samples from 20 Crohn's patients to those from 28 healthy relatives and 21 healthy patients from other families.
[h/t Huffington Post]
A slimy, thin layer of microorganisms able to cling to the intestines could cause the symptoms experienced in Crohn's disease, according to a new study highlighted in the Huffington Post.
Researchers identified the key bacteria and fungus that produce the slimy layer, opening the door to new treatments for the disease.
Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel condition, affects nearly 570,000 people in the U.S. with abdominal pain and severe fatigue. Doctors have never known a potential cause for the illness until now, WCHMH reported.
The new research identifies a fungus known as Candida tropicalis that, when paired with the bacteria Serratia marcescens and E. Coli, may lead to the development of Crohn's disease in some.
For the study, published last week in the journal Mbio, researchers analyzed patients with Crohn's disease alongside family members without the disease as well as strangers living in the same area. The method let researchers understand the differences between microbiomes in those with Crohn's versus the ones in those around them, according to the Post.
What they found is that patients with Crohn's carry significantly higher amounts of E. Coli, Serratia marcescens and Candida tropicalis than their relatives as well as those living nearby.
The study was lead-authored by Mahmoud A. Ghannoum, director of the Center for Medical Mycology at Case Western Reserve University.
“Among hundreds of bacterial and fungal species inhabiting the intestines, it is telling that the three we identified were so highly correlated in Crohn’s patients,” Ghannoum said in a statement.
What's more, Ghannoum noted that the "gut profiles" of families affected by Crohn's were "strikingly different" than those families that hadn't experienced the disease.
Ghannoum warned that other factors potentially shared by relatives —such as diet and environment — may also contribute to Crohn's.
The findings could help find better treatments for the disease, the Post reported, potentially including probiotics with a mix of good bacteria that counteract the bacteria behind Crohn's symptoms. Current treatments Crohn's include anti-inflammatory prescription drugs and, in some cases, surgeries.
For the study, researchers compared fecal samples from 20 Crohn's patients to those from 28 healthy relatives and 21 healthy patients from other families.
[h/t Huffington Post]
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Comments
My brother has Ulcerative Colitis kind of similar and damaging in its own way and to see what he has gone thru I couldn't even imagine what these people go through and its great to see they are making headway on this