Crohn's Disease

Crohn's disease is a very painful inflammation of the small intestine that makes it hard to digest food. We just do not know what causes Crohn's disease. It is possible there are genetic factors that predispose a person to the disease, and it is also possible that there are external causes such as bacteria or viruses. Twenty years ago, researchers found that a certain bacteria, Mycobacterium avium, subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP), could be found in some patients with Crohn's disease. A lot of research has been done on MAP to see if it is the cause of the disease, if it in the body as a result of it, or is associated with it in some other way. Now researchers from the University of Central Florida Researchers have completed another study that examined how MAP is associated with Crohn's disease.

The researchers had a fairly small group of people to study: 28 with Crohn's disease, 9 with ulcerative colitis (another inflammatory bowel disease), and 15 with no inflammatory bowel problems. They found that 14 people with Crohn's disease had MAP in their blood, 2 people with ulcerative colitis also had MAP and none of the patients who were free from inflammatory bowel diseases had it. Based on these results and previous research, the scientists came to the conclusion that MAP infects patients with Crohn's disease and could be causing the disease. Many people without an inflammatory bowel disease have been exposed to the bacteria in food and water, but it does not grow in their bodies. The researchers also think that the patients with ulcerative colitis who had MAP in their blood might either be misdiagnosed or they have both Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.

Crohn's disease is a very painful and disabling disease. If I had Crohn's I would be doing everything I could think of to try to overcome this disease. Based on these latest findings, I would want to do whatever I could to kill the harmful bacteria in my body, particularly in the small intestine, in a natural and healthy way that did not compromise my immune system. (In other words, I would not be looking at taking antibiotics.) Instead I would be supplementing with probiotic bacteria, the bacteria that are already known to be necessary for proper intestinal tract functioning, are known to kill harmful bacteria and are known to boost the immune system. (If you are not already familiar with these helpful bacteria, you might want to read about probiotic bacteria on the Upward Quest website.)

Please do not take my words here to mean that I believe that probiotic bacteria would cure Crohn's disease. I doubt very much that the answer is going to turn out to be that simple. But I certainly think that they would have a positive impact --- killing harmful bacteria and boosting the immune system seem like steps in the right direction to me.

Reference: Naser, S.A. et al. "Culture of Mycobacterium avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis From te Blood of Patients With Crohn's Disease." The Lancet. Sept. 18, 2004, Vol. 364, No. 9439, pp. 1039-1044. An abstract of the article is at The Lancet.