On the Hygiene theory for UC

Just read an interesting study done on mice that links UC to lack of germs at a young age. Take a look http://www.nature.com/news/early-exposure-to-germs-has-lasting-benefits-1.10294

It's a very OLD theory....I don't buy it ....kids are little pigs and the germs/dirt/crap they're exposed to daily makes my butt crawl at the very thought.

q

I am surprised anyone questions "old friends" as a player (which is not to say that it is THE key player- IBD seems to be affected by multiple factors) hundreds of studies either show that certain pathogens directly attenuate inflammatory diseases in animal studies or human trials, or else show how auto-immune and similar conditions like IBD are much rarer in the populations where people are extensively exposed to parasites and pathogens- the studies are esp. stark when one compares populations *within* societies in developing countries i e it is inevitably the westernized-lifestyle "elites" in those countries who no longer have their "old friends" and who get UC, crohn's etc... But I agree it is just one player in the story- I personally tried three different types of worm therapy. I recall for a fact that one of those- pig whipworm eggs- dampened my UC somewhat (was much too expensive to sustain thiu for the limited benefit), and all three types of my worm therapies coincidentally also knocked out my annual, fairly severe early summer hay fever completely.

I grew up with dogs,we had a dog all my sons life, he is also a landscaper. We both have UC. There is some demographic study which states that landscapers are less likely to get UC, go figure. Hygene perhaps is part of the story,but what ever the enviromental cause you have to start looking as to what has changed since about 1900.
Old Mike

I was seeing a GI dr at one time (big wig out of mt Sinai in NYC) whose thoughts on why there is so much IBD now is that we are too "clean" of a society. He said all these anti-bacterial soaps and cleaners are the worst.

I had horrible eczema as well, hmm, a link?

Red_34 said...
I grew up in a dirty household and I was a tom boy - played in dirt, climbed trees, collected snakes and frogs etc. So this concept doesn't explain my issues.

This is pretty much my experience as well. I've heard that these sort of digestive issues are uncommon in third world countries, as well as uncommon in past centuries when things were a lot less sterile. However I also spent a lot of my childhood camping, drinking well water at the campground (I now know better...blech!!), playing in the mud, swimming in disgusting swimming holes, playing on the monkey bars and in sandboxes, exploring places I probably should have stayed out of, etc. In addition to camping, I lived in the city and spent all of my free time outdoors and took public transportation. I was definitely exposed to germs, and when I initially got sick my mother was convinced I had picked up a parasite from one of the nasty lakes I swam in while camping.

Digestive issues run in my family, and while I was the first to get diagnosed, I have not been the last. I spent a lot of my life feeling that my disease was my fault, that it was the result of something I did. It wasn't until recently, when I accepted that it was just the hand I was dealt, that I was able to start healing. I'm now in remission due to meds.

Another thing to think about...in the past, people sometime died from a case of diarrhea, and in general they died at a much earlier age. How do we know these types of genetic diseases did not exist? Perhaps they were just misunderstood or misdiagnosed. Perhaps there is something similar going on in third world countries, or perhaps it is a case of nature (genetic condition affecting certain races) rather than nurture (sterile environments breeding the disease). I also agree that it is very likely there are people in third world countries suffering from UC who are simply undiagnosed, untreated, and their disease therefore undocumented.

For the record, I also have eczema and blepheritis. I have to maintain a skin care routine to keep them both under control.

I was breastfed until the age of one....mom couldn't afford formula earlier than that and that's the main reason why she breastfed all of us kids....yet I still ended up with IBD (crohn's) mom had UC....and she was definitely breastfed when she was a baby as well.

I don't have much faith in the "breastfed babies have a much lesser chance of developing an IBD" theory.