Mexican Parasite, cause of Chron's???

I had Crohn's long before I ever went to Mexico. No, I've never heard that one.

Never heard of it. Could you give a link? Sounds to me like a fantasy, as I'm sure many with Crohn's have never been to Mexico. Nor do Mexicans have an unusually high incidence of Crohn's.

The one ethnic group most associated with Crohn's is Ashke**** Jews. This led some to believe that it was a hereditary disease. However, Crohn's is increasing rapidly in many other ethnic groups spread far and wide, and the hereditary theory is becoming harder to sustain. Just why Crohn's is spreading remains a mystery.

(Note: the auto-censor on this web site hid the last half of the word Ashke**** - that's not my doing). Take a look at this to understand what I'm talking about:

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Health/genetics.html

If we're going to take wild stabs at what might be causing Crohn's to increase, I have my own theory (totally unverified, I might add). The increased consumption of milk containing recombinant bovine somatrophin(or rBST or rBGH). Whether or not you believe this, take a look at this interesting article about how this stuff is being plugged, (especially in the USA) and how much effort is going into keeping it secret:

http://www.alternet.org/workplace/78660/?page=entire

ozonehole said...
If we're going to take wild stabs at what might be causing Crohn's to increase, I have my own theory (totally unverified, I might add). The increased consumption of milk containing recombinant bovine somatrophin(or rBST or rBGH).

That *was* really interesting, ozonehole! I'm going back to read it again. Thanks for posting it.

And along with that from cows, there's also MAP and E. coli (neither of which would necessarily come from cows and *only* cows, but they are a source). Ever get the feeling somebody up there didn't want us to mass produce and pool our milk?

ozonehole, What about those that are lactose intolerant and don't drink milk?
It has been years since I had any milk.

I've never even been to Mexico. I'd find a new doctor.

That is absolutely ludicrous....

I've never been to Mexico either,& I've had CD symptoms for nearly 30 years.

I was diagnosed with Crohn's about 5 months after returning from Mexico.  I am not sure if that is what caused it, but I seem to believe it had something to do with it.

Hi, going to Mexico does not cause Crohn's. When a doctor says that the doctor is a quack.

Hello again

balleenstein: This was a new DX for my friend a few months after she returned from Mexico. The Dr told her she picked up a parasite in MEXICO. She had never had problems prior to her trip and no one in her family has CD or IBS. I just found it interesting. Could a parasite weaken your intestines to the point to cause CD?? 

I wanted to see what my friends her at HW thought about this.

Thank You. Kay

I do find this interesting. I recently went to mexico and got a bacterial infection called Urcinea. They did not find the bacterial infection until 5 months later and after the 3rd run of flagyl killed it. 3 months after that I was still sick and further investigated and found I have Chron's. My specialist said I've had Chrons living in remission for a while and it took the bacterial infection to bring me out of remission. I don't know if that was the case but the bacterial infection was living in my intestines for 5 months causing havoc and could have possibly damaged my intestines?

I agree. It's kind of like a stress-diathesis model... there must be a genetic vulnerability in the first place? That said I think the standard american diet is doing our vulnerabilities no favours at all

I accidentally had some water in Mexico when I was a kid and got sick. I developed Crohn's 6 years later so maybe...