IBD - Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis Flashcards
what is IBD
- inflammatory bowel disease
- can be crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis
what are significant GI malabsorption diseases
- pernicious anaemia
- coeliac disease
- Crohn’s disease
what are significant GI diseases in the large bowel
- IBD
- colonic cancer
- infections
what is IBD characterised by
- inflammation of the bowel
what is the prevalence of IBD
- quite prevalent
- incidence is 20x more in Western societies
- occurs more in white people than black
at what age are patients usually diagnosed with IBD
- 15-25 years old
- could have had it for longer at a low level but it has only become critical at this age
in what gender is Crohn’s disease more common
male
in what gender is ulcerative colitis more common
female
what is the aetiology of IBD
- bit of a mystery
- is a change in gut lining and mucosa = trigger for this change is different person to person
- likely that there is more than one cause = but once you have the disease the pattern of disease is the same
- there is a whole range of things that can set off change in mucosa
what are the 4 main factors that can cause IBD
- immunological = if immune system is overreactive
- psychological = perhaps a cause of IBD but definitely a consequence
- smoking = less risk of IBD
- genetic = clearly tendencies that run in families
what do granulomas do in crohn’s
- cause granulomatous inflammation
- have granulomas in tissue
how does food intolerance affect Crohn’s disease
- something happens in tissues causing immune stimulation that the body can’t handle
- if you don’t feed patients it gets better
- unclear what the food intolerance
how can viral infections/immune activation affect Crohn’s
- passed to people which in the right susceptibility causes problems
what can infection with mycobacteria do for Crohn’s
- causes paratuberculosis
- causes Johne’s disease = problem cattle get similar to Crohn’s
- get bacterium that causes Johne’s in farms which then passes milk to the dairy industry which then passes disease to us
what is the link between Johne’s disease and Crohn’s
- incidence of Johne’s in cattle and Crohn’s in people both increased over time with about 10 years between
- some people think it is passed down from cattle
- pasteurised milk kills a lot of bacteria but not m.paratuberculosis
- should have ultra-high-temperature milk all the time as it would kill m.paratuberculosis
what is the changes to the bowel and mucosa in Crohn’s disease
- has lots of bumps
- areas of oedema caused by granulomas blocking lymphatics so preventing drainage from tissue
- can affect any part of the bowel
- get cobblestoning of mucosa