What Causes Inflammatory Bowel Disease and How Is It Treated?

This is the second part of our mini-series about the condition based on our patient booklet “Fast Facts for Patient and Their Supporters: Inflammatory Bowel Disease”.

What Causes IBD?

The cause(s) of ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease are not fully known, but doctors are beginning to understand how these conditions happen. Early life events combined with a genetic (inherited) predisposition for IBD and various environmental or lifestyle risk factors stir up the immune system into an excessive inflammatory process that causes the tissue damage and symptoms.

Early Life Factors

The influence of modern lifestyle and the environment starts at birth and infancy, long before the onset of disease. We know this from studies of migrants. The younger the person is when they move from a region of the world with low levels of IBD to a region with high levels of the disease, the greater the risk of developing IBD in the new region. In addition, the children of migrants have a greater risk of developing IBD than the children of those who do not migrate.

Your microbiome is critical to the way in which your bowel, immune system and most internal organs mature.

A normal microbiome early in life determines whether your immune system matures properly and learns how to tell what is harmless and what is harmful in the outer environment.

Anything that disrupts your microbiome in infancy may affect how your immune system matures. If your body’s community of microbes is disturbed, it increases the risk of your immune system becoming hypersensitive or failing to function normally in later life.

Beyond Your Control

No single lifestyle or environmental factor caused your disease. Almost every aspect of modern life has the potential to modify your microbiome – the food you eat, the house you are raised in, the size of your family, even your mode of birth. Other than smoking, there is little about modern life that you have complete control over.

Researchers are trying to find out how important each of these factors is. For example, we know that early exposure to antibiotics increases the risk of developing IBD in later life.

There is nothing you can do about the past and no one is to blame. However, you do have control over the future and can take steps to improve not only your IBD but also your general health.

Why Me?

Why me? Why did I get this? Why now? These are the questions every patient asks. You are not alone.

As modern societies have developed, IBD has become more common, with 100–200 cases per 100,000 people in Western countries for both Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis. Why some, but not all, people with the same lifestyle get the disease is not clear.

The “Perfect Storm”

There are over 100 genes that increase the likelihood of IBD developing, but these genes are common and are usually not enough on their own to cause the disease. Similarly, the environmental or lifestyle factors that increase the risk of IBD are also common.

Research has suggested that a coincidence of events is required, a kind of “perfect storm”, by which environmental and lifestyle factors interact with one or more genes, in the presence of one or more trigger(s) such as smoking or an infection, and these combine to launch the onset of inflammation.

Almost certainly, there are many other factors that increase the risk of IBD that medical science has not yet discovered.

How Is IBD Treated?

IBD is a marathon not a sprint, with the finish line being control over the disease to live a normal fulfilled life. Other than the hassle of taking medications and seeing your doctor regularly, this is achievable.

The Doctor–Patient Relationship

This is a two-way conversation for both to inform, listen and engage. At first, it will be crisis for you, routine for your doctor, but as you learn more and remove fear of the unknown you will gain confidence. Likewise, when your doctor gets to know you better, he/she will be better able to provide advice and treatment that suits you.

Get Informed, Get Support

Choose what you read on the internet wisely. It is not censored for inaccuracy. Select websites from reputable organizations. Know that you are not alone. There are support groups that most patients find helpful to join.

Take Control

Be an active participant in the management of your IBD. This does not mean that your IBD should dominate your life, but:

Take responsibility for your own follow-up.
Keep hospital appointments.
Attend to your general health.
Don’t smoke.
Anticipate and prepare. For example, your doctor may recommend a medication that suppresses or modifies your immune system. You will need to be fully vaccinated for common infections well in advance of using such a drug. Update your immunization status with your doctor.

Please check out the first post of our mini-series here: