Does it matter where you live?

Folks, here is an interesting study about the impact of where you live, on the possibility of developing IBD:

http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/hsn/inflammatory-bowel-disease-less-common-in-sunny-states

Looks like the the study is focused on the impact of location prior to developing IBD.

What I am curious to learn is whether moving from colder states to sunny states would help improve symptoms.

I lived in Michigan and Minnesota for a decade, during which period I was diagnosed with CD and had seen
some flare-ups. After moving to VA and then NC, I definitely feel better but it could be because of other
reasons.

Folks, please share your experiences. The following information would help:

location before diagnosis, ( S for sunny state, C for cold state)
location during diagnosis
Current location
In case you relocated:
If current location is to a sunny state from a cold state, do you see overall improvement, Y/N?
If current location is to a cold state from a sunny state, do you see overall improvement, Y/N?


To moderators: I am hoping the above request is a reasonable one. If that is not the case, please remove the message.


Thanks
Jaya

location before diagnosis - S (Alabama)
location during diagnosis - S (Alabama)
Current location - S (Alabama)

Not sure that really helps anyone, but there you go. Things are easier during the summer but mainly because the winter affects my Fibro and arthritis.

location before diagnosis- C
location during diagnosis- C
Current location- C

I'm not seeing a pattern here...yet.

location prior- C
location during-C
Current location-C

I think we are seeing patterns, but a different kind of pattern. Well, actually, a lack of a pattern.

I think that is what baffles doctors/scientists/etc so much when it comes to Crohns. There is no one thing that works for everyone. From the SCD diet, to aloe vera, to standing on your head while humming The First Noel (just kidding!), there are always those who it doesn't work for.

It would surely be nice if moving to Hawaii would be the end of my symptoms though ;)

Moving from Alcoa, Tn. after my initial dx of colitis, to sunny Clearwater, Fl., did not help my symptoms one whit.
I'd say no, unless the area you live in has other things going on, unrelated to weather..

Matthew

I have spent my life in the coastal northeast of the US. I usually have a minor flare in February and a major flare in the summer.

location before Diagnosis-S
location During diagnosis-S
Current location-S
Have lived my whole life in Florida so I wouldn't know if the seasons would change the flares.

I have had crohn's 27 years. Three surgeries. On cimzia now. Anyway, substance of post is this...I live in NYC...an area that obv. has a lot of toxicity--air pollution, food/water impurities, smog, and little contact with natural elements. For whatever reason I noticed when I go to one place in particular--Costa Rica--three trips now in two years--I see a marked improvement/elimination of almost all symptoms. My theory is the air is cleaner, more biodiversity (a ton of trees plant life), cleaner foods (little to no factory farming/gmos/heavy industry/anyibiotic fed animals) and more sun and time spent in natural elements. Anyway, I have not been able to find any evidence that this idea is not crazy outside articles on Nicoya, Costa Rica which is in The Blue Zone (one of five areas in world where people live longest), and this article suggesting the develoment of crohn's is more likely in northern latitudes https://www.everydayhealth.com/crohns-disease/living-with/how-climate-affects-crohns-disease/. Also, there is an article on rural areas being less likely a place to develop crohn's (see below). In sum I think certain areas have different energies than others and def. diff. levels of toxicity. More polluted areas and less sunny areas are probably more triggers for crohn's...although I have very little scientific evidence to prove this idea.....anyone find any other science reinforcing these ideas? https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/07/170725083643.htm

C for all 3. Not the UK ever gets extremely cold, but it isn't particularly hot or sunny either. Most of my major flare-ups have occurred during the winter; my Crohn's also began at the end of 1999 (I still remember it because I put down the diarrhoea to too much rich food at Christmas; 4 weeks later it was hard to use the same excuse).

I think cold is bad for me, but on the other hand I doubt I would enter into remission if I emigrated to the tropics.

I agree on the latitude thing, Randy. I have wondered how Australians fit into the IBD picture, 'cos they live in a country that's largely warm and sunny all year round. I wonder if the UK in the 18th century, along with exporting its criminals to Australia also managed to export its IBD genes? (It probably isn't as unlikely as it sounds, given that the penal colony was also basically the first European settlement in Australia at the time.)

location (before, during, current) = Nashville Tennessee

I started experiencing issues 15 years ago when I moved to college in Cookeville TN. Actually symptoms appeared upon coming back to Nashville when I was on summer and winter breaks.

I recently took a vacation to Destin FL and had fantastic health while I was there but when I came back to Nashville I started having issues again.

Like many of you I was also wondering if the sun or salt water played a positive role but it might have been diet changes or lack of stress too. I've thought about going back to see if I get similar results. I'm starting to try salt water baths and Vitamin D to see if I can recreate Destin at home. ;-)

Similar to what a few of you have mentioned, I tend to flair at the end of seasons - primarily Feburary and August. I've been off of meds completely for about 8 years and have been managing my health through diet. I can't seem to find the root cause but I keep trying. I can normally make adjustments to my diet before things get bad enough to require anything invasive.

I find similarities in people's stories very fascinating - if enough people share their stories then hopefully we can find correlation (ideally causation) to the root causes.

Good luck all.

I'd bet it has more to do with genetics and historic migration/immigrantion patterns than anything else. Traditional northern European populations have higher predominance of IBD and they tended to settle within northern areas of the USA when the emigrated over. The temperature is completely irrelevant, however, genetics are very relevant.