Crohn's Cronh's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis Background

Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis are the major forms of chronic inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in the western world, and occur in young adults with an estimated prevalence of more than one per thousand inhabitants (Hugot, et al., 1996). These diseases can affect any portion of the gastrointestinal system all the way from the mouth to the anus and are associated with many other medical problems such as arthritis, skin condition, cancer, and kidney stones. Ulcerative Colitis is most likely to be diagnosed in early adolescence while Cronh's Disease is more likely to be diagnosed between the ages of fifteen and thirty but can more rarely be diagnosed later in life. Both of these diseases are still being researched thoroughly and many questions remain.

The most common symptoms of IBD include abdominal pain, cramping, and diarrhea. In some more severe cases symptoms may also include rectal bleeding, urgent bowel movements, constipation and reoccurring fever. Most doctors will work to diagnose IBD doctors through the use a series of blood tests to determine if certain antibodies are present and to diagnose which type of inflammatory bowel disease is present in the patient. Blood tests will show particular signs of an immune response associated with inflammation and intestinal disease. In some cases stool samples can be collected to examine the content of the stool or there may also be a colonoscopy performed to examine the intestines first hand. However, by discovering the presence of white blood cells in a patient's stool will indicate some type of an inflammatory disease, and then in can be further deduced as to whether it has arisen from an IBD.

One study looked at the whether the use of antibiotics...

This possibly implicates antibiotic use as a predisposing factor in IBD etiology. However, there are many more potential contributing factors that are also subject. However, there is evidence that shows a greater risk if a close relative has the disease, suggesting a strong genetic component.
There is also research being conducted that is attempting to identify the disease specific loci for Cronh's and UC. Identifying shared and disease-specific susceptibility loci for Cronh's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC) would help define the biologic relationship between the inflammatory bowel diseases. More than 30 CD susceptibility loci have been identified. These represent important candidate susceptibility loci for UC. Loci discovered by the index genome scans in CD have previously been tested for association with UC, but those identified in the recent meta-analysis await such investigation. One study analyzed 45 single nucleotide polymorphisms, tagging 29 of the loci recently associated with CD in 2527 UC cases and 4070 population controls and collectively such data can help genetic relationship CD and UC and characterize common, as well as disease-specific mechanisms of pathogenesis (Anderson & al, 2009).

Cronh's Disease and Ulcerative Patient Implications

Both diseases are severe and have many of the same symptoms. Whereas Crohn's disease may cause inflammation anywhere along the digestive tract, UC generally occurs only in the large intestines. Furthermore, with Crohn's the inflammation…